


Benediction

by Firefury_Amahira



Series: The Ultimate Saga [3]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Episode: s02e08-09 The Ultimate Enemy, Episode: s02e19-20 Reality Trip, Gen, Psychology, Redemption, Tragedy, hate!ship, villain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 01:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7737319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firefury_Amahira/pseuds/Firefury_Amahira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One swore to destroy his painful memories of a ruined past. The other faced that future and swore he would never let it happen. The new future won, but the shadows of ruin remain; it was only a matter of time before the ultimate enemy broke free of his prison, free to resume his violent rampage. Past and future once again collide, with unforeseen results that leave Danny grappling with a moral dilemma.</p><p>After all, he swore he would never be anything like his twisted future self... yet killing off his deadly opponent would be the wiser choice... wouldn't it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Ill Omen

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does, and I somehow doubt that will be changing any time soon. Since I'm not making any money from this, there is nothing for the law-ninjas to sue out of me.
> 
> This was originally posted to my FFN account almost a decade ago, the third story in what would later become a trilogy-in-four-parts that I am finally bringing over to AO3. This iteration of "the saga" (I really do need to come up with a proper name for the entire collection) is mostly unaltered from the original, save for typo and formatting fixes that slipped through in the original FFN run.

**Prologue: Ill Omen**  
"With the vision of a great divide  
You turn towards the other side  
You think you run but you can't hide  
The dead can not ride"  
_-"Heart of the Dragon" - DragonForce_ **  
**

            _Soon, I'll be free._

            That one thought had been the only thing keeping him remotely sane as he struggled against his bonds. It had been months, with no sight, no sound, no sensation beyond the claustrophobic black confines of his narrow prison. Was this what all his effort was to come to? Securing his past at the price of his freedom? Had he even achieved that goal, given he knew that Clockwork was involved?

            _Soon, I'll break through this stupid thing. Then I'll know._

            He suspected that his existence was now the anomaly, that the past _had_ been changed, and that he somehow existed beyond the simple confines of time and paradox. He wasn't given to much thought about such complicated matters however. His goals were quite simple. Destruction. Destruction and revenge for ten years of memories, ten years of those reminders of a time long since gone, a time of his weakness, his utter uselessness. In his weakness, he had been unable to save anyone, those memories had to die.

            _Soon..._

            To the outside observer, it was merely a thermos. A thermos with the word "Fenton" on it. As such things go, this one was in bad shape; its silver surface caked with soot, marred with scratches, and battered with large dents. The careless or the curious might have been eager to unscrew the lid and discover the contents. But Clockwork was neither careless nor curious, the master of time already knew quite well the contents of the device.

            As would be expected of a ghost-hunting device, a ghost was held securely within the small cylinder. Not any ghost, however. This wasn't anything as benign as the Box Ghost, or even Pariah Dark. No, the contents of this thermos were far more dangerous, this particular ghost could count the wholesale slaughter of thousands among his achievements. And slowly but surely he was battering his prison to bits from the inside.

            Clockwork spared the thermos a brief glance, his attention more firmly fixed on the large round device that dominated his lair. The time-viewing device flashed through one scene after another, endless possibilities , endless scenarios. A fight lost, a city in ruins, corpses littering the streets. A city standing in daylight, unharmed, a young man wondering if he made the right choice and riddled with guilt. A battle raging, unlikely allies taking an unsavory chance, a risky gamble. A man brooding in some dark place, finally coming to terms with mistakes made.

            "Soon." The timemaster murmured, an eerie parallel to the thoughts of his angry captive. "You have another difficult decision to make. Will you make the right one?"

            The viewer faded to black and Clockwork turned his attention to the thermos, visibly rocking now with the struggles of the ghost inside it. The outer surface of the container was distorted badly from the force of the ghost's escape attempts. While effective at the time, sealing that particular ghost in the thermos could never have been a permanent solution. Ten years of hate and battle had honed Danny Phantom's power to a deadly edge, and Clockwork knew it wouldn't be long before the half-mad ghost burst free. Whether or not Phantom's present-day counterpart would be able to stop him a second time... well, only time would tell.

            With a flick of his staff, Clockwork disappeared for parts unknown. No sooner did the master of time vanish than the thermos gave a particularly violent lurch, tumbling from its perch to fall to the floor. The clatter was all but lost in the explosion, the silver cylinder finally shattering into a dozen pieces upon impact, at long last releasing its contents. As the smoke cleared, he stood and stretched, for the moment merely savoring the feel of actual sensations again. After months of blackness, even the dim ambient light of the Ghost Zone was dazzling, the faint background noise nearly a roar.

            "At last." He growled, running one black-gloved hand through his flaming white hair. The only thing his imprisonment had been good for was recovering his strength after his last battle. Everything was _wrong_ now. The people who should have been dead weren't. He had worked for ten years to gain the terrible power of his Ghostly Wail, and yet in the past, his wrong self had gained it so rapidly.

            His wrong self. The wise-cracking, do-goodie he had been ten years ago. The him that shouldn't still exist, the him that should have been nearly insane with grief and on his way to Wisconsin. The him that still had his family and friends. His _weakness_.

            He wasn't certain what to do now, with the history he knew lost and replaced with an alien alternate reality. One option was clear however. This new timeline was inherently _wrong_ , and he would have to set it _right_.

            _Soon..._


	2. Demon's Escape

**Demon's Escape**  
"Sometimes I feel so out of time and place, trapped in a maze  
As if I was lost in someone else's life...  
The values I should keep in high regard don't mean a thing to me"  
_-"Misplaced" - Sonata Arctica **  
**_

            He drifted through the Ghost Zone of ten years ago, considering his options. So much was doubtlessly wrong with the timeline now, it seemed a daunting task even for him to set it right. Really, he'd missed his narrow window of opportunity. His weakness had plenty of time to make dozens of useless promises and mentally brace himself against the possibility of such a catastrophic loss. Even if Danny lost his friends and family now, it was clear the child would never consent to the cheesehead's offer to remove his ghost half, the botched operation that had given rise to his proper existence.

            _So I exist 'outside of time', was what those stupid ghosts said._ He mused. He hadn't been entirely deprived of sound during his imprisonment, and he had heard bits of conversation regarding him and his weakness. _So then it doesn't matter what I do to_ this _timeline. At all._

            He passed a large purple football, and the thing stopped him in his tracks. Why was it so familiar, and _what_ was a giant purple-hued football doing in the Ghost Zone? Footballs distantly reminded him of that idiot Dash, yet another person who should have been dead but wasn't. No, that wasn't what was familiar about the thing. Momentarily distracted from scheming, he approached it, tapping a finger against the rough surface. A distant memory of part of him hunting for a key surfaced, and he nearly slapped himself on the forehead. Ten years later, and he only _now_ remembered that the cheesehead's portal was sealed by a blatantly obvious football? With an annoyed grunt, he kicked the oversized sports equipment aside and dove through the swirling green vortex it had been hiding. He didn't need to use an artificial portal to cross from the human world to the Ghost Zone as he had long been capable of generating his own portals; but if he was free to do as he wished with this false reality, the cheesehead's castle was as good a place to start as any.

            The lab on the other side was little changed from what he remembered. Various details were changed of course, gadgetry lying in various locations, computers full of unfamiliar data. That didn't bother him in the slightest. This was a place from distant memory and while altered, this was the place he had shed his weakness, consigned his human self to oblivion. The cheesehead himself was nowhere in sight, but this didn't bother him overmuch either. Yes, perhaps the existence in this timeline of his full-powered archenemy would prove entertaining. Valerie had long ago ceased to be an amusement, and in this inherently wrong timeline, the girl had yet to acquire the skill or the absolute dedication to trying to kill him. But Vlad Masters? The original human-ghost hybrid might prove a challenge, at least for some short time.

            _The old castle. Still standing._ He mused, a large green energy blast forming in one hand. _I'll just fix that little problem._

\---

            Vlad Masters was having a very good day. He'd spent the better part of the weekend out of town for a computer technology convention, unveiling Vladco's latest processors. Granted, the new hardware was merely a scaled down version of the equipment in his secret labs in Wisconsin and Colorado, but even then the new gadgets were quite impressive. Several large companies had submitted queries about the new processors and simply put, it had been a very productive, very profitable few days. However, the billionaire was quite looking forward to returning to the peace and quiet of his castle where he could relax, and perhaps fiddle with some of his latest projects in the lab. Perhaps he could work on some little plot with which to pester Daniel.

            Vlad settled comfortably against the plush limo seat, watching the familiar towers of home coming into view. Needless to say, when the ground heaved suddenly and sent the limo screeching to a halt, the man had an excellent view of those towers. That is, an excellent view of the towers as they buckled and fell, consumed by a massive green explosion.

            "What was _that_?" He demanded to no one in particular. _I just changed the ecto-filtrator **last week**! _ For the most part all the ghosts that he knew of would not have dared to attack his castle. Vlad certainly was not well-loved by the denizens of the Ghost Zone, but he _was_ well-feared. The limo was still perhaps a mile from the castle, so Vlad stepped out of the slow vehicle. The driver was one of the ghosts in his employment and already knew Vlad was half-ghost, so in a flash of black the billionaire transformed, taking to the air to find out what had just destroyed his castle. His (only recently replaced) collection of Packers memorabilia _would_ be avenged!

            From above the sheer destruction was both awesome and terrible. Clearly the explosion had to have originated in the basement, for to Vlad's sharp eyes the lab, or rather the twisted steel and shattered concrete remains of it were laid bare to the sky, the entire ceiling ripped away, reinforced sidewalls entirely pulverized. Items from the lab were blasted several hundred feet from where they had originally been, what few bits were still recognizable smashed beyond hope of repair. Indeed, the explosion seemed to have been _worse_ than when his portal had up and exploded. That had left at least a few walls standing. Where his massive castle had stood, now all that remained was a giant crater scooped from ground by the incredible force of the blast. While he floated above the wreckage holding off on an angry outburst, he did a mental check of his projects. Had any of those been volatile enough to detonate with that kind of force? No, it was impossible. Not even any of Skulker's new weapons were able to generate such powerful results. Not even _he_ could generate an ecto-blast with the explosive power of a thermonuclear device.

            _If it wasn't my work, and it certainly wasn't **me** , then what... or **who** -?_

            Vlad was startled from his musing by demented laughter floating up from somewhere below him, somewhere down in the crater. Clearly, it had to be the culprit. With some quick aerial maneuvering, Vlad made certain the sun was at his back in case whoever it was decided to glance up. Whoever it was had a tall build, muscular and with the veiled promise of deadly power. From where he hovered, Vlad couldn't see the ghost's face, but the black and white costume seemed distantly familiar. The figure below turned around and shot off into the sky, tearing past Vlad with incredible speed. The billionaire didn't even see the green blast coming until it struck and sent him reeling briefly, the attack clearly not intended to do real harm, but to simply knock him off balance while the ghost escaped.

            " ** _DANIEL?!_** " He yelped, at a complete loss as to what exactly was going on. It was a ghost, clearly, but too tall to be Daniel; too powerful to be his rival. But he saw it when the ghost had blazed past, clear as day, that silly nested DP emblem. Clearly, the younger ghost hybrid had _something_ to do with this. The question was _what_? Had the boy found how to alter his ghostly appearance already? It was certainly possible, Vlad had obtained that particular skill within two years of his own incident, and Daniel's powers had been developing at a mildly alarming rate. Vlad was certain that even assuming Daniel had some new guise, that the boy could not possibly have become so powerful since their last encounter, when he had _encouraged_ the young hybrid to help him resolve his acne problem.

            The ghost had long since disappeared in the distance, heading straight in the direction of Amity Park, an aerial route Vlad was quite familiar with having traversed it numerous times himself. Assuming that _was_ Daniel, how had he gotten so powerful? Why did the boy target his castle, while only taking potshots at his real target? _It's extremely unlike the boy to instigate something like this_. Vlad mused, dusting the soot from the ecto-blast off his impeccable white attire. Destroying his enemy's stronghold was a tactic _he_ might be more inclined to, and tempting though it was, Vlad had never actually followed through. Daniel was certainly dense, but the boy was not stupid; he had to know that making such a bold move would not help keep either of their identities secret as per their uneasy 'truce'.

            _Oh fudgedoodles! Now I need to figure out some believeable explanation as to why my castle has exploded_ twice _in the past year!_ Vlad scowled as he landed amid the ruins. Coming up with a plausible excuse once hadn't been too difficult. He had merely placed the blame on the Guys in White and a botched attempt to capture the Dairy King. That excuse wouldn't be terribly well received a second time. Perhaps he could claim it had been a gas leak over the weekend, turning the place into a veritable bomb by the time he returned from the conference. Well, if all else failed, he would simply resort to more underhanded measures to deflect any untoward investigation. A little cash here, a bit of overshadowing there...

            And no thanks to Daniel. Vlad surveyed the wreckage up close, a fiercely displeased, full-fanged scowl plastered on his face. Some things had survived the first explosion. The destruction here was far worse, an absolute, total loss of the mansion and every single thing inside it. Including irreplaceable Packers trinkets he'd obtained since the last explosion. No amount of money could make up for the loss of signed jerseys, footballs, and helmets. No amount of money could make up for the hours of lost research, data irretrievably lost unless it was old enough to be backed up in Colorado. It was certainly out of character for Daniel, but Vlad didn't particularly care about that little bit of trivia just then. He would get to the bottom of things, one way or another.

\---

            He flew off, laughing the entire way. He had caught the cheesehead off guard easily enough, but resisted the initial urge to start blasting. Vlad could wait, he had more important things to vaporize with the castle out of the way. In the back of his mind, he knew he was completely off his nut, but the fact didn't bother him much. His timeline was gone, was it? He was stranded in time, bereft of friends and family for the past ten years, and now without even so much as a past to call his own? Fine, he was free then to destroy _this_ one, to destroy his weakness, Valerie, the cheesehead, and everything else that he felt needed to be vaporized. As he shot over farmland and scattered bits of suburbia, he decided that there were a _lot_ of things that needed to be vaporized.

            He didn't waste much time on his way to Amity Park, as that city was his top priority. However, he amused himself as the miles rolled by below with several large blasts, randomly ripping the landscape asunder, occasionally clipping houses and large buildings. He couldn't help but laugh, it reminded him entirely of his first flight from Wisconsin to Amity Park after he had brutally shed his weakness a decade ago. Well, it _had_ been ten years ago for him, despite his present temporal displacement. Yes, and at the end of that long flight had been Valerie, the little witch who had been responsible for thwarting him at nearly every turn. He growled at that recollection, one fang glinting in the sunlight. Oh, he would make _her_ pay. She wouldn't get the chance to assemble a resistance like she had in his proper timeline.

\---

            "Man, you should've told us you had a such an awesome pool ages ago, Sam!" Tucker declared, reclining on his pool raft, a soda in one hand. "This _totally_ beats waiting in line at Floody Waters!"

            "Yeah, no lines, no jocks..." Danny watched Sam cannonball into the pool from the high dive, the goth girl's splashdown lightly spattering Tucker. "... and no ghosts!"

            "Present company excluded?" Sam chuckled at the bad joke. "Your turn, Danny!"

            It wasn't how the teenage half-ghost had originally envisioned spending his summer. After the frantic cross-country chase that had ironically covered the entirety of their original road trip however, just staying in town and relaxing was certainly an enjoyable alternative. Danny suspected he would be jumpy about his secret identity for _months_ after the media blitz and nationwide manhunt that had followed right on the heels of his identity being blown. He hadn't told either of his friends, but he was desperately glad that he had been able to use the Reality Gauntlet to wipe that fact from the minds and memories of the entire country. It had been an uncomfortable wake-up call to what could happen if his secret got out.

            Danny glanced down from the high dive platform. Funny how he could fly several hundred feet in the air without a problem, and still find the idea of throwing himself from a twenty foot diving board daunting. _Wait, who says I have to jump from the platform?_

            Grinning impishly, Danny jumped from the diving board, but stayed in the air in a blatant affront to physics. Sam cocked an eyebrow as the half-ghost positioned himself in the air, slightly offset from where Tucker's raft floated. Still grinning, Danny curled up into the traditional cannonball position, and simply let gravity do the rest, his splashdown soaking Tucker and sending large waves throughout the giant pool.

            "Hey-!" The techno-geek yelped, having not seen the splash attack coming. "No fair!"

            Danny surfaced, just in time to catch a shot from Tucker's water gun to the face. Before long, the trio were engaged in a vigorous splashing war, laughing and enjoying the pleasant weather and freedom from responsibilities that came with summer vacation. The struggle shifted gradually from free-for-all soaking to Danny and Sam attempting to overturn Tucker's raft, the latter throwing all his slight weight into thwarting their efforts.

            "C'mon in, the water's fine!" Sam chuckled as she flung a handful of water at Tucker.

            "You just want my raft!" He accused, splashing at Danny to prevent the dark-haired teen from sneaking up and dumping the raft.

            "What makes you think that?"

            After several minutes of the effort, Danny ducked under the water, swimming beneath the raft to place one hand against plastic. For just a second the raft was intangible, just long enough for Tucker to plunge through it into the water. Mission accomplished, Danny flew up through the raft and settled comfortably on the now vacant pool toy.

            "Nah, Sam didn't want the raft." Danny grinned as his friend came up for air, sputtering. "I did!"

            Sam and Tucker exchanged looks, nodding once. While Danny relaxed on the pool raft, the other two stealthily paddled around to one side, slowly guiding the raft to shallower water. Danny had his eyes closed, soaking up the sun, so he didn't pay the slight motion any heed. With the better footing on the pool floor, Sam and Tucker had just enough leverage to, on an unspoken signal, throw their weight into it and flip the raft entirely over, dumping Danny with a yelp back into the pool.

            The trio's merriment came to a sudden halt when the low rumble of an explosion echoed through the air, the shockwave an inaudible WHUMP seconds later.

            "What was _that_?" Sam glanced toward a plume of smoke visible in the distance.

            "Sounded like an explosion." Tucker noted.

            Danny tensed, concerned. Explosions generally meant one of two things: His parents were out in public testing some new gadget, or a ghost was up to no good. More often than not, it was the latter.

            "Danny, chill." Sam put a hand reassuringly on her friend's shoulder. "Summer vacation, no responsibilities, remember? Let your parents deal with it."

            Danny exhaled and tried to make himself relax. "Yeah, you're right. Think it's on the news yet?"

            "Easy way to find out." Sam climbed out of the pool, wrapping her black towel around her waist. She scooped up a little remote control, and with the press of a few buttons a small television screen slid out from a hidden compartment near the pool.

            "Man that's handy!" Tucker hefted himself up on the edge of the pool to watch the screen, Danny following suit as the screen came to life.

            "This is Tiffany Snow with a breaking news report!" The entirely too perky voice of the news anchor declared. "Just moments ago, what appears to be a ghost attacked this fast food restaurant-" The screen changed to a helicopter camera, showing smoldering ruins of an all-too-familiar eating establishment.

            "They blew up the Nasty Burger!" Tucker yelped, recognizing the toppled sign.

            "Yeow." Sam stared as the camera zoomed out somewhat, catching the ghost responsible in the frame, clearly laughing with delight at the destruction.

            Danny's blood ran cold the instant he laid eyes on that figure, a bolt of pure fear making his blue eyes fly wide open in horror. "Oh no..."

            That twisted mirror image was burned forever into Danny's memory, the demented future that had been averted only by the narrowest of margins and with the meddling of Clockwork. Danny would never forget the absolute consuming terror he had felt when he thought for certain his friends and his family were dead. The nightmare form of his alternate evil future self had been haunting his dreams for months, a fear that he had subdued with frequent reminders that the ghostly fusion of his and Vlad's ghost halves was sealed securely in a Fenton Thermos, trapped for good. That reassurance was burned to nothing as Danny watched the ghost start lobbing green blasts at nearby buildings, the news camera only faintly catching the screams of panic.

            He couldn't leave this to his parents even if he wanted to. This was _his_ nightmare, and he would have to face it head on.


	3. Fifth Rampage

**Fifth Rampage**  
"Rage and fear from skies above, the fire fuels my veins.  
Destruction of humanity, the everlasting flame.  
Cast away, no turning back from long forgotten shores.  
We'll show no mercy as they fall!"  
_-"Prepare for War" - Dragonforce_

            That was one fragment of the past restored to its proper condition. He floated above the blast crater, studying what was left of the Nasty Burger. That sauce really _was_ a high-grade explosive; he'd only used a small beam to set off the sauce tanks, but the damage done was comparable to nearly any of his earliest explosive exploits. _How in the world did that get past the FDA for human consumption?_ He mused to himself as his face twisted into a smile and he began blasting nearby buildings. It reminded him of his proper past in a way, people screaming in panic, fleeing for their lives as brick and mortar cracked and fell.

            It wouldn't be long, he knew. Either his weakness would show up to stop him, or Valerie would show up in a pathetic attempt at stopping him. Perhaps both.  He didn't particularly care which of the two arrived first. He would rip his weakness to pieces, just as he had in the proper past. The child would die, and it would be in a suitably painful, gruesome manner. If Valerie appeared... well, he wasn't certain yet how he would kill the huntress. He could rip her apart the same way he would his weakness, or perhaps a consuming explosion to burn her to ash? Maybe he would lure her high into the air and destroy her jet sled, leaving her to plummet a few thousand feet to a grisly ending as a red splotch sprayed over the concrete.

            He scowled, blasting a police car, the shrieks of the occupants nothing short of sweet music to his pointy ears. After he'd taken down the ghost shield ten years in the future, there hadn't been much left to do. People who survived got quite good at hiding, the pleasure of killing them diminished when the only way to get them was to blast huge craters in the twisted debris. He couldn't hear them plead in terror then. Even playing a deadly game of tag with Valerie had rapidly lost its shine; the huntress was quite good at stalking and prowling, but there was no danger from her. He had become strong enough that none of her weapons so much as tickled. Indeed, the only thing that had proved a challenge was his weakness, and only because the boy had the element of surprise and a great deal of Fenton gadgetry at his disposal.

            _I know what he's capable of.  He won't take me by surprise this time. He won't be able to win._

\---

            "I'm going ghost!" Danny jumped into the air, swim shorts replaced in a flash with the black and white jumpsuit of his ghost form. He wasn't sure what he was going to do when he got to the battle, but there was no way he could sit by and do nothing. He had grown more powerful since that desperate fight, but would it be enough?

            "Danny, what-" Sam was already toweling off, her expression worried.

            "I've got to stop him." Danny interrupted, glancing in the direction of the smoke, where more explosions could be heard in the distance.

            Tucker clambered out of the pool and grabbed his towel. "Be careful, dude. Y'know we've got your back."

            Danny frowned at that where he floated, about ready to take off. His friends had helped bail him out of difficult situations countless times before, but this one-? He didn't know for certain what his evil alternate self was after, but the teen half-ghost suspected it had to do with setting the timeline back to that bleak future of ruin.

            "Guys, I want you to stay here." He finally declared. Danny interrupted the immediate indignant protests of his two friends. "This is my fight, and I don't want you guys getting hurt. Remember, _he_ exists because you guys were all supposed to be dead. If he goes after you guys..."

            "Danny..."

            "... If he goes after you guys, I might not be able to protect you." The admission hurt to give voice to, but it was the truth. Danny wasn't about to go overestimating his abilities, not after all the near-misses, all the close calls. Everyone nearly died in that explosion, and he _hadn't_ been able to save anyone. It had been thanks to Clockwork's power that they had survived, not him. It had been entirely too close for comfort when Freakshow nearly succeeded in ripping the very foundations of reality apart. Danny would never forget his mother's scream when she thought her son had been killed by that rollercoaster train. He didn't want them put in danger because of him again, and his demented alternate self was likely the most dangerous opponent he'd ever faced. "I'll be back soon."

            With that, Danny shot off into the sky, his two friends staring after him. Sam's expression set into a determined mask; the goth girl ducked into the pool dressing room to get back into her normal attire. After a moment she emerged, cutting an imposing figure in her dark outfit, a Fenton Thermos strapped across her back.

            "Uh, Sam?" Tucker eyed the resolute girl.

            "Who's going to protect _him_?" Sam snapped. "You coming?"

\---

            "Oh man, I hope Mom and Dad didn't see the news..." Danny muttered, his voice almost lost to his ears from the speed he was flying. The ghost hunters would be all over it if they knew about it. Danny didn't want to think what would happen if they were there; what might happen if that sick alternate future saw his parents raising ineffective ecto-weapons against an enemy lightyears out of their league.

            A quick glance down made the half-ghost groan. Weaving through traffic, sirens blaring was the unmistakable form of the Fenton RV, doubtlessly heading in the same direction as Danny. _Okay, so I just need to make sure that **he** isn't where they're going. How am I going to buy enough time to get him somewhere else-?_ Frowning, Danny put on an extra burst of speed, leaving the RV below mired in traffic. An idea hit as another explosion rocked the area. Danny didn't much care for unnecessary property damage, but with the situation as it was, a few more craters in the streets below was a small price to pay if it meant impeding his parents' arrival.

            _Man, this isn't going to do my reputation any good._ He grumped, firing the first of several blasts into the streets below, carving out potholes in the asphalt that would prevent cars, and most importantly the RV, from crossing them. It wouldn't buy him much time, his parents would probably be willing to leave the RV and cover the remaining distance on foot. But it was better than nothing, and Jack would probably waste valuable time trying to find a driveable route.

            In entirely too short a time he was there, gaping at the ruins he had seen in that horrible future now made real. If this was what Valerie had witnessed happening in that twisted alternate future, Danny couldn't blame the future huntress for her actions. And there, standing atop the burned out hull of a police car, a green ecto-blast in one hand and a demented smile plastered across that pale face...

            ...Was him.

            _You know, I really hope I don't look **anything** like that when I'm twenty-four._ The thought was absurd, and Danny knew it. At least it was better than being paralyzed with fear. _I hope everyone in the area was able to get away in time..._ Looking at the burned out cars and tattered buildings though, Danny had a sinking suspicion that wasn't the case. The time for speculation and planning was over. Any moment his ghost sense would go off, the blue mist matched by red from below. Then _he_ would know Danny was there to fight him.

            _Now or never._ The ambush trick had worked before, so Danny rose higher into the air to maximize his momentum. Taking a deep breath to steel his nerves, he dove. It worked, his alternate self had little to no time to react before Danny slammed into him, fists first at close to two-hundred miles per hour.

            "Shouldn't you still be in time-out for bad behavior?" Danny quipped as his twisted mirror image sailed several miles through the air from the impact with a snarl.

            "And _you_ should be dead." He hissed, launching a blast at Danny. "But then you don't always get what you _want_ , do you?"

            Danny yelped and threw a hasty shield up, the blast deflecting into the air off the spherical defense. Something was different this time. Before, his demented alternate self had been more calculating; a more sinister, scheming evil. Now though, the twenty-four year old ghost seemed more ruthless, and even less rational. The ghost had certainly thrown paradox to the wind if that blast was any indication. Danny didn't want to think what it would have been like if that blast had hit _him_ instead of the shield.

            _Well, at least that got him away from where my parents are heading._ Danny dodged around several smaller blasts, mind racing for some sort of solution. If he used his Ghostly Wail _now_ , it might be enough to incapacitate the ghost long enough to cram him into a thermos again. He'd yet to use it for a single full-power blast, but Danny was relatively certain that the attack had grown more potent since he first used it against his alternate self. But if the attack failed, it would leave him extremely vulnerable. Would a thermos even work? Somehow the guy had escaped from one already, and Danny didn't think that Clockwork would be so careless with it as to accidentally let the ghost loose.

            "This isn't about what I want." Danny snapped, blasting the ghost in the face. "It's about protecting my family!"

            With a sound somewhere between a growl and a hiss, the ghost shot forward, pale face only lightly scorched from the explosion. "You think you can protect _them_? They're supposed to be dead, along with everything else in this stupid city!"

            Danny tried to dive out of the way, but his flight was arrested by a nearly bone-crunching grip clamping down on his wrist. It hurt, and Danny bit his lip to keep from crying out as he swung both legs forward, kicking his twisted future self in the jaw. The ghost yelped, perhaps having bitten that grotesque tongue, and loosened his grip just enough for the teen to slip free.

            _Okay, I_ don't _want to try and fight him in close quarters._ Danny cringed as he put some space between himself and that warped reflection. His wrist was throbbing still with pain, it would probably be bothering him for a few days at least. _I guess I'll just have to hope it works..._

            Danny inhaled sharply, wincing to himself at the likely collateral damage the attack would cause. Not a full-strength Wail, but hopefully just enough to set the ghost off-balance like before. The fact that his alternate self had already been weakened from the Specter Deflector and the Ghost Gauntlets in their previous fight was a thought he tried to ignore.

            "I don't think so-" The ghost was cut off mid-lunge and sent careening into the side of a building by a pink beam of energy.

            Danny got knocked backwards by a similar pink blast a split second later, aborting his Ghostly Wail and cringing when he realized who had just joined the fight. _Oh crud, Valerie-!_ Her new black and red suit and matching jet sled made for a terribly imposing figure, an array of cube-shaped mini-guns floating near her shoulders. He knew from the future that Valerie's weaponry was all but useless against that warped mirror image of himself, but it didn't seem likely he could just ask her to leave. Well, he _could_ , but the odds of Valerie heeding the advice were slimmer than the odds of Vlad finding a girlfriend. In other words Valerie choosing willingly to abandon the battlefield was _not_ going to happen.

            "What's this? You got a big brother, ghost?" Valerie snarled, aiming her weapons at Danny.

            "Ur, not exactly." _He only happens to be what I could have been in ten years_.

            Valerie was interrupted from her gunpoint interrogation by a green blast smacking into her jet sled and sending it tumbling. She quickly regained control of the sharp device and looked where the blast came from.

            Standing on top of the building he'd hit, _he_ stood, one hand still glowing and a wide demented smile stretching across his face, daylight glinting off cruel fangs. The wind caught his cape and splayed it out behind him, his entire stance emanating a truly demented glee at the huntress' presence. Of course, the ghost did seem to have a special brand of hatred for her. After all, in that twisted future, Valerie had been the only thing between him and the absolute annihilation of everything.

            "Valerie. It's been awhile." The ghost purred, leaping into the air, a volley of green blasts preceeding him.

            "Not long enough, spook!" Valerie darted through the storm of beams, though her tone betrayed her confusion. She closed quarters with the half-mad ghost, only to yelp when a punch to the stomach dislodged her from the jet sled and sent her plummeting with a shriek.

            "It never _is_ , is it?" That twisted reflection took aim, a brilliant blast that would certainly hit the prone huntress before the sled could turn around and stop her freefall. "But we won't have to see each other _ever_ again."

            Danny didn't waste time thinking, he merely acted, pure reflex. With all the speed he could muster, he shot beneath Valerie, locking his arms around her waist and flying them both barely out of the line of fire. It took Valerie a moment for her brain to catch up to what had just happened as the report from the blast's impact rolled for miles. She started thrashing in Danny's grip, flailing angrily at her rescuer.

            "Let me go! Put me down!"

            "Yeah, you're welcome." Danny quipped as Valerie's sled arced beneath the pair. "Look, right now _really_ isn't a good time for you to be here."

            "You think I'm just gonna let you ghosts run loose without-" Valerie snarled as Danny let go of her so she could reclaim her sled.

            "Look out-!" Danny threw himself at Valerie, shoving huntress and sled out of the way of a second blast. He launched a blast of his own, the green beam connecting and sending his future self tumbling back to the rooftop with an angry shout.

            Valerie recovered more rapidly from the second save than the first, glaring at Danny through her red visor. " _What_ is going on, ghost?"

            _Well, at least she's starting to listen._ Danny glanced in the direction of his alternate self. "If you're going to stay, I could really use your help."

            "My _help_?" Valerie raised one eyebrow warily as they both darted around a third blast. "You aren't with _him_?"

            " ** _NO!_** " Danny shouted, not meaning to put so much anger into the one little word. Valerie even recoiled slightly from the force of the declaration. "I mean... no. I'm not, and I _never_ will be. But right now, he's only about a billion times more dangerous to you and everybody else in this city than I'll _ever_ be."

            Valerie looked past Danny, where the ghost still stood on top of that building, smirking coldly at the both of them. With the new visor allowing Danny to see the huntress' face, he could clearly tell she was considering what he'd just told her.

            "I'm tired of waiting for you idiots." The ghost growled, crouching on the rooftop, hands glowing vivid green.

            "No, wait-!" Danny yelped, the sentiment echoed by Valerie as a giant explosion ripped the entire building apart, the ghost leaping into the air with a sinister snarl.

            "You _monster_!" Valerie shrieked, Danny apparently forgotten in the wake of that blatant, lethal violence. Danny couldn't tell through the red tint of the girl's visor, but he was pretty sure she had gone as pale as he did at the implications. At least the last time he'd had to fight his alternate future self, the guy had been focused on just him and the Nasty Burger. This time, the ghost seemed perfectly content to simply cause as much damage and loss of life as possible. Not even Vlad or Pariah Dark had been so twisted.

            Valerie shot into action, sled blazing a wide arc around the ghost, a volley of energy beams strafing the smiling spook. He evaded some, deflected several off a green shield, and outright batted the rest aside, frowning slightly at the huntress. Danny didn't know what seemed to be so riveting. Maybe because Valerie's new equipment didn't look like anything his alternate self had ever seen before?

            Danny didn't miss a beat as he flanked the ghost opposite Valerie, adding his own green volley to the melee. He couldn't use the Ghostly Wail, not with Valerie in such close range. On the other hand, he felt a little bit better about not taking on the nightmare alone. Still, he wasn't sure how much help Valerie would be, even with her new weapons.

            "Isn't this _cute_?" His demented self snarled, evading Danny's barrage. "All the more reason to kill you _both_."

            "What happens to _you_ then?" Danny retorted, remembering that particular question had ever so briefly given the ghost pause in their last fight.

            His warped reflection burst into laughter at the question, clutching his sides from how hard he was laughing. The reaction gave Danny and Valerie pause, giving one another matching looks of confusion. The ghost really _had_ snapped, not that one could have called him particularly sane before.

            "Didn't that fool Clockwork tell you?" The ghost finally gasped out in between peals of that chilling laughter. "I exist _outside of time_. That means **you** don't matter _at all_ to me."

            Danny's eyes widened at the information. Clockwork had implied that time wasn't a perfectly linear thing, but the idea hadn't really registered on the teen beyond the fact that everyone was safe and he'd had a chance to fess up about the test answers. If this nightmare self existed independently of the timeline...

\---

            "Hurry up!" Sam shouted over her shoulder at Tucker as the pair darted through crowds of people fleeing from the destruction.

            "Watch out!" Tucker cried out, diving out of the way of an errant pink beam, carelessly deflected from the battle in the sky.

            The two teens had simply followed the smoke and destruction that marked the erratic path the battle was taking, trying not to think too much about the heaps of rubble that littered their route. Not even Pariah's army or Walker's goons had caused so much damage to the city. This crisis of Danny's evil alternate future self was without a doubt the most serious that the half-ghost had ever faced. Freakshow may have been more demented, but the ringmaster hadn't been nearly so lethal on such a massive scale. The ringmaster's wrath had kept to a narrow focus- revenge on Danny. This was indiscriminate violence, plain and simple. Destruction for the sake of destroying things, murder for the sake of bloodshed.

            "Danny, please be okay..." Sam whispered under her breath. She didn't recall her friend's last fight with that demented ghost, but Danny had told them all about the battle and just how deadly close it had been. About what would have happened if not for Clockwork's timely intervention. Sometimes she had nightmares that might have been memories, the clarity wiped out by the time manipulation. Seeing those nightmares made real did nothing to ease the goth's nerves.

            "Dude, I hope Danny's folks aren't home." Tucker pointed out as they closed in on the site of the battle.

            Sam shook herself from her brooding at the statement, only then realizing the fight overhead was almost directly above the distinctive roof of FentonWorks. From the ground, the crazed aerial melee seemed almost fake, a surreal pyrotechnic display of green blasts, red beams, pink rocket exhaust trails. From where she stood on the ground she could make out the trio of forms whirling about in the air: Danny was the smallest, a speck of black and white compared to the ominous black and red of Valerie and the eerily familiar yet alien black and white of that monster Danny could have become.

            There was an explosion. Sam shielded her eyes from the green glare, a knot of fear lodged in her stomach as she heard Danny's voice cry out, loud and clear even across the distance and roar of the blast. As the blast faded she could hear crazed laughter drifting down, the sound making her shiver. To think that Danny _could_ have become _that_ -!

            "Danny-!" Tucker yelped.

            There! Sam's momentary relief at verifying her friend _wasn't_ blown to smithereens faded almost instantly. Danny was intact but falling limply, the teen's descent utterly unchecked as he slammed into the roof of the ops center, the sound of tearing metal and a loud hollow thump making it clear that the half-ghost hadn't simply passed intangible through the steel, but had instead slammed into it with considerable force. The battle overhead paused for a long moment, almost as if waiting with breath held to see if Danny was going to leap skyward again.

            " _Danny!_ " Sam shrieked.

            There was no answer.


	4. Fracture

**Fracture**  
"Crying alone at night your destiny unknown  
You're every being full of rage and hate  
Seems like you're running but you just can not hide  
You close your eyes and visualize the day you'll get away  
_-"Disciples of Babylon" - Dragonforce_

"How disappointing." He glared down at the building below before turning that disturbing red-eyed gaze to Valerie. "With all the noise he made about his little _promises_ , I thought he'd put up more of a fight."

            Valerie repressed the urge to shudder. She had no love for the ghost kid, but this specter was in an entirely different league. She couldn't think of a single time where the ghost kid was actively causing damage. This spook seemed to absolutely delight in it, the very picture of an evil ghost. There was nothing sympathetic about the tall, flame-headed figure. This was pure, absolute malevolence; cruelty given form. And the ghost kid who routinely had bested _her_ had just been smacked down as though he were merely an annoying fly.

            _You better not be done for, ghost. **I'm** the one who's gonna take you down._ She thought, though honestly she was hoping the lean form of her rival would shoot up from the Fentons' house and give her some backup against this mutual enemy. Where _were_ the Fentons, anyway? If they were home, there was simply **no** way for them to not notice the ghost kid slamming into their roof and putting in a new skylight.

            "I suppose that just shows what his stupid _promises_ are worth, doesn't it?" Her opponent shrugged carelessly, licking his lips as he regarded her with a wicked smile. "So, Valerie, shall we dance?"

            The sick glee in the ghost's voice _did_ make Valerie shiver involuntarily. She'd seen already what this guy was capable of, and though she was ready and willing to fight, she had to admit that the odds were not in her favor. She risked a glance down at Danny's house, not willing to admit it but hoping fervently that the ghost kid was all right and would be rejoining the battle soon. She wouldn't run, but the thought of taking on this ghost alone was not one that got her excited like fighting the ghost boy usually did.

            She took a deep breath and put a bold face on her uncertainty, taking aim with her remote weapons. "Sorry, you're not my type, spook."

            He chuckled, a green orb hovering in the air above one palm. "You couldn't do anything to me for the past ten years, there's not a thing you can do to me _now_."

            Ten years? This was the first time she'd _met_ this ghost! What the heck was he blathering about? She'd only been fighting ghosts for little more than half a year now, where in the world was the spook getting ten years from?

 _Okay, so he's not just a violent ghost, he's a **crazy** one._ Valerie wasted no more time on bantering with the spook, instead launching a pink volley, the beams whizzing over her shoulders. She still wasn't entirely certain how everything in her new suit worked, but she wasn't going to argue with being able to aim and fire multiple weapons with just a thought. Some of the blasts clipped the tall ghost, but from her vantage, Valerie wasn't sure if the impacts did anything but shove him back slightly. He certainly didn't _look_ terribly fazed from the beams, he still had his attack primed and ready to send flying.

            "Child's play. Honestly Valerie, don't you have anything better?" The ghost yawned mockingly, launching his attack; the little green sphere bristling with destructive power as it arced through the air between the two.

            _Too fast to avoid it-!_ Even as she thought the phrase, the huntress stomped a foot switch on her jet sled. Just in time the sleek device slipped backward, presenting the bottom of the board and a bright pink energy shield to the incoming attack.

            "Whoa-!" Valerie yelped when the impact sent her flying wildly backward, the green blast deflected off the shield and detonating with a nearly blinding flash a few hundred feet away.

            It took Valerie a long moment to regain control of her trajectory, though she was thankfully unhurt from the blast. A quick glance at the ghost made the huntress shiver again. His previous psychotic glee was gone, replaced now with an intense frown, red eyes narrowed angrily. She had no idea why, but she knew this went beyond superficial anger. She was staring down absolute burning _hatred_ , and she had no idea why this ghost hated her so. Sure, she hunted ghosts; but such a simple thing didn't seem to be the reason the ghost so visibly despised her. This was more personal. The ghost seemed to be naturally angry and cruel, but he seemed to harbor some personal grudge that she was somehow responsible for.

            "What, surprised?" Valerie spat, clicking another switch on her sled. "I don't know _who_ you think you are, ghost, but you picked the wrong ghost hunter to mess with!"

            The taunt seemed to amuse the ghost, for he cracked a slight smile, lip lifted into just enough of a sneer to reveal one of those fangs. "You really think you stand a chance, don't you? You don't have a chance, Valerie. You never _did_ and you never _will_."

            The ghost leapt forward, rapidly closing the distance between Valerie and himself. Valerie stood her ground, simply angling her sled just a little bit so that it was facing the spook head-on, red lights in the forward portion momentarily obscured. So what that the ghost knew her somehow? He clearly didn't know a thing about her new equipment.

            The fire-headed spook yowled, both hands clutching at his scorched face when he flew face-first into the large pink beam the sled spat at him, sending him reeling. Valerie didn't waste the chance, flying out of the ghost's direct line of fire and pumping round of round of pink blasts into him. The huntress' confident smirk dropped a notch when the ghost hissed something unintelligible about being shot in the face, and then suddenly there were four of him.

            "You'll pay for that." All four snarled in perfect unison.

\---

            Jazz was used to things going bump in the night (or any time of the day, really) at her house. Bump and more often than not bang and boom, depending on what crazy device her parents were working on at any given time. However the deafening crash from the ops center was a new one. She knew something was going on, her parents had gone charging out of the house armed to the teeth not long ago, and she'd been hearing the distant reports of explosions. She had been watching the news, slackjawed at the carnage and hoping desperately that her brother was all right.

            _What was that?_ Jazz pondered as she pounded up the stairs to the ops center, already suited up in the Fenton Peeler's armor. If the fighting was close to FentonWorks, maybe she could give her brother a little help against that nightmare figure. From what she'd already seen on the news, footage blurry from the distance between the camera and the action, Danny would need all the help he could get!

            "Freeze, I know how to-" She skidded to a halt in the doorway, weapon primed and ready. "-Danny!"

            The noise outside momentarily forgotten, Jazz quickly disengaged the Peeler and ran to her brother's side, taking stock of the situation. Danny wasn't in ghost form, but judging from the extent of his injuries, Jazz surmised that he must have changed back after crashing through the roof. He seemed to be unconscious, and while not sporting any serious injuries that the redhead could see, Danny was covered in scratches and bruises, with a scattering of minor burns thrown in for good measure.

            "Danny, are you all right?" Jazz carefully disentangled Danny from the wreckage of the unplanned skylight. "Come on, you've got to wake up!"

            From the sounds of things, somebody was still fighting outside, and Jazz cast a worried glance at the hole in the ceiling. So somebody was stalling for time, how long would they last? What if Danny didn't wake up in time to rejoin the fight? Jazz shivered at the thought of what might happen if that crazed ghost was left unopposed. She still all-too-clearly remembered her own brief showdown with Danny's alternate future the night before the C.A.T.

            Danny still didn't stir, despite Jazz gently shaking him and calling his name. The house rumbled from a nearby explosion, the ops center creaking ominously from the abuse. Jazz yelped and shielded her younger brother, wincing when some stray debris from the hole in the roof hit her exposed back. _That's going to leave a bruise._

            Jazz wasn't certain if what followed on the heels of the blast was better or worse than the cacophony that preceded it.

            Silence.

\---

            It really was only a matter of time before Valerie's feeble resistance ended. He had her overpowered by a ridiculous margin even _without_ duplicating himself. That she'd lasted as long as she did against _four_ of him was surprising. It had taken some work to corral the huntress long enough to slam her into a wall, but he knew as he watched her slide to the ground in an unmoving heap that she was finally unconscious.

            He floated to the ground a few feet away from the house, watching as Valerie's battle suit disappeared. Where previously had been the mighty ghost huntress, now there was only a dark girl sprawled on the sidewalk. There would be no ten years of resistance here, no giant anti-ghost shield to thwart him.

            "First you, then the rest of the past are as good as gone." He declared with a smile, a green blast flickering into being in his hand. "In fact, this works rather nicely, don't you think? I'll be rid of you, my weakness, _and_ your future base of operations all in one shot."

            It felt unbelievably _good_ to give voice to that sentiment. Ten years of destroying a past that reminded him endlessly of his weakness, and here in this alien reality, he would be finally able to achieve that goal. All he had to do was waste Valerie and FentonWorks in one massive blast. He heard footsteps pounding down the sidewalk, but ignored the sound as he prepared to sling the blast. It would be enough to level an entire city block at the least. There wouldn't be _anything_ left when he was done.

            "No, don't!"

            He very nearly yelped in surprise when Sam charged in between him and his target, standing with arms spread as if the raven-haired goth alone could protect the fallen girl and the building behind her. What did the short girl think she could do? He saw she had a thermos slung across her back, but in the time it would take her to bring the device to bear, he could easily vaporize it _and_ her. Why was this specter of his past getting in his way now?

            He stared at her, blast still held ready, but she refused to budge. Indeed, Sam matched his scowl with a determined glare of her own. Was the girl not afraid for her life? By getting in the way, she was only accelerating her own demise, and for _what_? Buying Valerie, a girl she disliked a few more seconds of existence?

            "What do you think you're doing?" He finally inquired, the first to break the staring match.

            "What do you think?" Sam snapped. "Are you really going to go through with this?"

            "Of course I am." He hissed, knowing even as he said it that getting into an argument with the girl was a waste of time. Yet... why couldn't she understand? Everything here was so _wrong_ , she was supposed to be dead! "I have to put everything the way it's _supposed_ to be."

            "'Supposed to be'? _Supposed to be_?!" Sam bristled, ever so briefly reminding him of a very angry cat. "Did it ever occur to you that this _is_ the way things **are** _supposed to be_?"

            He had forgotten over the years just how intense his friend could be when her temper went off. From the looks of things, he'd managed to really set Sam off, the girl's entire stance radiating something between worry and rage, but no fear. She wasn't one to show fear, never at all except for the most dire of situations. He had figured his appearance and sheer power ought to have qualified, but apparently this was not the case.

            "You're supposed to be dead." He snarled at her, aiming the energy blast. Why wasn't she so much as flinching? She'd seen the future, she had to know what was supposed to happen!

            "Who _cares_ that's what's _supposed_ to happen?" Sam spat, standing her ground. "You don't really want to kill all your friends and family."

            "It's not about what I _want_!" He shouted. Sam was managing to hit all the wrong nerves, it wasn't like him to lose his cool like this.

            "Then what _is_ it about, Danny?" Sam's expression didn't change, but her tone softened, just the barest bit. The name alone made him stop dead in his tracks, blast fizzing out unused. He hadn't been called that in over a decade. Well, not counting that brief period where he was disguised as his weakness, but that almost normal afternoon of 'playing video games and raging against the machine' didn't count. No one had _known_ it was him.

            "Stop trying to play games with me." He hissed, fist glowing again and aimed at Sam. "And die!"

            When the blast cleared- it had been surprisingly small, given what he was capable of- Sam still stood, shielding her face. Her hair was slightly messed up from the shockwave, her outfit lightly scorched; but she was basically unharmed. The asphalt just in front of her was blasted out, a miniature crater, but he hadn't shot _her_. He gaped for a full minute as the realization hit that Sam was not dead despite his threats. It took her about as long to realize she hadn't been blasted and to lower her arms.

            "You-" She squeaked, pausing briefly and resuming her previous confident stance, though her voice carried a clear tone of disbelief. "... You couldn't do it, could you?"

            "I'll take care of you when I blast the building." He retorted, though he had yet to start forming a second blast. It bothered him a great deal. He was powerful, he had no need or use for weaknesses like her, or stupid, wasteful sentiments like friendship. Why had he missed? He'd shown that same sort of reluctance in his previous attempt at trying to make sure things went the way they were supposed to; he'd had ample opportunity to kill Jazz before, yet just like this time, he hadn't been able to follow through.

            He saw Valerie, the girl still unconscious and battered a few feet behind Sam. The sight of her rekindled his anger, the desire to see her blood spilled suddenly a lifeline that he clung to. _Focus on that heartless little witch, forget Sam. She's as good as dead anyway._

"I don't think you _can._ " Sam countered, glancing up at the ops center, an expression of worry flitting ever so briefly across her face. She was stalling for time, a wasted effort at best. He realized Tucker had joined the fray, the techno-geek was standing behind Sam, and checking Valerie over. All of them, and all in a single blast...

            "Oh?" He sneered at her, putting on the cold act to cover his lapse. "And what makes you think I _can't_ blast you all into absolute oblivion?"

            "Because..." Sam frowned in brief thought, straightening and looking him straight in the eyes, her determined stare terribly unnerving. Apparently inspiration had struck, and the shrewd goth was not going to let it slip by. "Because no matter _what_ happened to you in the future, you still know it's wrong. No matter _what_ freaky messed up things happened to you thanks to Vlad Masters... despite all that, deep down under all the angry 'kill everything' attitude... you're _still_ Danny!"

\---

            "Danny!"

            He groaned as he swam back to consciousness, at first only aware of the fact he ached all over. In a moment his memory returned and he snapped alert with a yelp, only to find Jazz kneeling over him, her hands on his shoulders and a worried look on her face.

            "Jazz?" He shook his head briefly, dispelling his previous daze. "What happened? Where is he?"

            "You fell through the roof." Jazz's tone, and the daylight coming in through the hole in the ceiling confirmed that she meant he fell _through_ the roof, not through the roof intangible. "I heard more fighting outside, and then shouting-"

            She stopped mid-sentence as Danny leapt to his feet, transforming as he did so, abruptly-green eyes sweeping the ops center for something, anything useful. His parents' gadgetry had saved the day the last time, it was apparent now that he would need whatever technological aid he could get his hands on. The voices drifting into the ops center from outside made the half-ghost stop in his tracks, a look of horror on his face.

            "Sam! I told her and Tucker to stay put-" His search took a frantic pace at the thought of his friends in danger, his gaze falling on a tall device that had been left in the corner. It was unwieldy at best, and an absolute gamble, but it was worth a shot. There wasn't enough time to dig through everything for the Specter Deflector or the Ghost Gloves, or indeed any other potentially useful gadget. He grabbed it with both hands, launching himself through the wall. "Jazz, find something- anything!- from the lab and use it!"

            "Danny-!" Jazz re-activated the Fenton Peeler and ran for the door, taking the stairs two at a time.

            From above, the situation seemed more clear. Sam and Tucker were below, confronting the ghost. Valerie was sprawled on the sidewalk, battered and bruised and clearly unconscious but alive, while Tucker looked nearly ready to bolt in fear. Sam stood resolute, in the middle of a staredown with the spook. Danny didn't know what had been said, but clearly his friend had somehow managed to stall his alternate self.

            "You think I still _care_ about such sappy sentiments?" The ghost hissed, a blast forming in one hand.

            Danny didn't give his actions a moment more of thought. He dove, straight down with weapon held securely in both hands. He plummeted at a speed far more than gravity alone could account for, a black and white blur of motion.

            "Get away from her!" He shouted, voice nearly cracking in his fury as he slammed the webbed Ghostcatcher down over his alternate self's head. The effect was tremendous, Danny crashed to the ground from his sheer momentum and slid to a halt at Sam's feet.

            One voice shrieked in agony.

            But two forms hit the ground.


	5. Shock

**Shock**  
"Now and forever after  
Asylums filled with laughter  
Suspicion haunts my dreams  
An echo through my mind"  
_-"Evening Star" - Dragonforce_

            All things considered, Danny should probably have realized that was going to be the result. Alternate Vlad had explained how that nightmare had come to exist, but the idea never quite registered beyond "It was partly Vlad's fault." He was the first to recover, jumping to his feet and gaping openly at his handiwork, at the two forms sprawled dazed on either side of the dropped Ghostcatcher.

            To one side, an entirely too familiar form lay sprawled on his back, cape splayed out like a pair of demented wings. The red and white material seemed worn and faded though, almost tattered in places. In fact, "worn" was a fairly accurate description of the tall ghost overall. The black upsweep of his hair was no longer perfect, but instead mildly disheveled; blue complexion tinged slightly green with the first traces of wrinkles around the squinting red eyes. Indeed, one could say rather accurately that Vlad Plasmius looked almost haggard.

            To the other side, face down and already struggling to get up on quaking limbs was the other figure, distinctly familiar but altogether alien. Lean muscles highlighted by the form-fitting black jumpsuit, perhaps five or six inches taller than Danny was; this other figure was panting heavily, the breeze carelessly tousling the ragged white hair. He was thin, but not quite gaunt; if one were to make a guess based on appearance, the ghost probably didn't weigh much more than his 14-year-old counterpart.

            "Wha-?" Plasmius managed to gape, dragging himself to a sitting position and clutching at his head, a grimace plastered across his face.

            "My head-" Phantom fell back down, also trying to massage away what was apparently a killer headache. His voice, while deeper, was unmistakably Danny's.

            "Sam, the thermos!" Danny finally found his voice, the request coming out as a surprised squeak. While that nightmare alternate future had looked so radically different from his own appearance, it had been easy for the teen to disassociate that future from his 'what could have been'. Seeing the two halves of that twisted mirror image sprawled out in pain right in front of him demolished that.

            "Whoa, that's really creepy." Tucker observed from where Valerie still lay unconscious.

            "Right!" Sam's expression at the sight nearly mirrored Danny's, violet eyes wide as she surveyed Phantom, the ghost very likely a good representation of what her friend would look like ten years down the road.

            "Danny!" The front door of the house flew open, Jazz armed with the Ghost Crammer in one hand, and one of the larger ecto-cannons from the lab in the other. "...What the-?"

            Their voices made Phantom's head snap up, green eyes flying wide open in terror. Headache apparently forgotten, he scrambled to his feet, visibly trembling as he stared at the group, mouth working to produce words, but no sound coming out. Danny braced for another fight, crouching slightly and ignoring his injuries, grabbing the Fenton Thermos Sam handed to him.

            Phantom took a few wobbling steps backward, looking at the familiar faces staring at him, at Danny's determined scowl. "G-get away from me!"

            That unexpected declaration gave Danny pause. He wasn't sure what to expect from the split spook, but borderline panic most certainly wasn't it. There was no mistaking the ghost's expression, beads of sweat forming on his brow, green eyes sweeping back and forth as if seeking an escape.

            "Oh cheesedip, my head-!" Plasmius finally staggered to his feet as well. The tall ghost froze up at some realization, head jolting upright and gawking at the equally stunned Phantom. "Wait... _my_ head-?"

            Red eyes suddenly open wide in shock stared across the forgotten Ghostcatcher at equally shocked green ones as Phantom and Plasmius exchanged looks. Apparently both realized the implications of what was going on at the same time; both staggered backwards from each other, Plasmius pointing accusingly at Phantom with one hand while massaging his aching head with the other.

            "Stay back-!" Phantom yelped, backing away from Danny and Plasmius, voice nearly cracking on the command.

            "You-!" Plasmius didn't finish the statement, a horrified look crossing his stern features. "This is-.... we did.... _fudgebuckets_!"

            "It's _your_ fault-"

            "As much as it is _yours_ , boy!"

            "But _you_ -"

            " _You_ attacked _me_!"

            "I-"

            " _We_ -"

            "Enough!" Danny yelled over the sounds of the argument while aiming the Thermos, more than just a little unsettled by events. His voice drew the attention of the two ghosts, their incoherent argument forgotten.

            "No!" Plasmius yelped upon seeing the Thermos, the tall ghost barely any calmer than Phantom seemed to be.

            "Sam-!" Phantom squeaked out in a terrified voice. "And... Valerie, and everyone else-! Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!"

            "What-?" Sam looked about as baffled as everyone else. No one was sure what to expect with the ghost split in half, but this absolute terror was certainly not anywhere near what the teen would have expected.

            Phantom continued to back away from the group, green eyes getting progressively wider with panic as he saw everyone, saw the building behind them. Plasmius wasn't backing away as much, but had a similarly shocked expression, red eyes wide and mouth gaping.

            "Okay, I am _totally_ disturbed now." Danny stated, the Thermos in his hands whining as it powered on, the device aimed at Plasmius. After all, the tall ghost was probably the more dangerous of the pair- in the present Vlad Masters was without a doubt an extremely dangerous opponent, the same probably applied to the man's ghost half from ten years in the future.

            "I refuse to be stuffed into that hideous contraption again!" Plasmius yelped, lobbing a red beam that smacked the Thermos from Danny's hands and knocked the teen over. In the time it took Danny to get back to his feet, the pale spook had already taken off, fleeing the scene. Almost as if in a panic, which was terribly out of character for the spikey-haired spook.

            The dropped Thermos rolled along the ground, coming to a stop at Phantom's feet. The slender ghost jerked backward at the slight harmless contact as if the thing was lethal to the touch. "No!" The ghost yelped, smashing the Thermos.

            "Today just gets better and better." Sam noted dryly as Danny launched himself at his older duplicate.

            Instead of fighting back, the ghost cried out and tumbled out of the way, still staring at Sam and Valerie, then at Tucker and Jazz in turn. Considering that just minutes prior he had been actively trying to kill them all, the ghost's horror at the sight of them and his warning not to come near him were utterly baffling. The spook continued to frantically evade Danny's assault. The fourteen year old half ghost had a confused and mildly uncomfortable look on his face; it was probably more than a little unsettling to be trying to beat someone who looked exactly like an older version of himself.

            "Somebody go find another Fenton Thermos!" Danny yelled to his friends while throwing another punch at Phantom. Almost as if a reflex, the older ghost caught the punch instead of evading, matching pairs of glowing green eyes locked on to one another as Phantom stared at his younger self at close range. The older ghost's gaze flicked from Danny's face to the fist he currently held captive, slowly sliding to his own white-gloved hand.

            "Get away from me!" Phantom abruptly shrieked, shoving Danny back and gaping at his own trembling hands. The look on the ghost's face was horrified, staring at his hands as if he was seeing something else entirely and not the aborted battle that was going on. He backed away, hands clutching at his head, eyes clamping shut in a panic. "No, they're all going to-! And because of _me_ -! NO!"

            With a cry of surprisingly anguished terror, Phantom shot into the air, the black-clad form quickly lost from sight. With the fight apparently over, Danny's stance relaxed slightly, the teen practically deflating as he remembered his injuries. Jazz was staring skyward in the direction Phantom had bolted, a thoughtful look on her face. Sam and Tucker both trotted over to Danny, expressions both relieved and worried.

            "Now what, dude? He... ur... they-?" Tucker guessed. "They're both on the loose!"

            "Yeah, but somehow I don't think either of them are going to be as dangerous as _he_ was." Sam noted. "Why do you think they both freaked out like that?"

            Danny sighed and transformed back to normal, wincing as his injuries made themselves more known as his adrenaline subsided. "I dunno."

            A groan from behind them returned everyone's attention to Valerie as she jolted back to alertness. "AAH-!...." She glanced around, realizing she wasn't wearing her suit and that there were no ghosts present. "Danny? What are you doing here? What happened?"

            "Ur..." Glances were exchanged among the three friends as they collectively fumbled for an explanation. "Sam and Tucker were-"

            "-playing video games-"

            "-watching a movie-"

            "We were all inside when we heard an explosion." Jazz cut through the chatter with a smooth lie. "Danny was the first one to the door, and we found you out cold. What happened?"

            Apparently the fib coupled with turning the conversation back to the injured huntress did just the trick to halt any uncomfortable questions. Valerie staggered to her feet, trying to ignore a multitude of bruises and scrapes easily on par with the beating Danny had taken earlier.

            "We heard about the ghost attack on the news." Danny added to make it easier for Valerie to fib her way out of it, though basically everyone present knew of the girl's second job.

            "Yeah..." Valerie fumbled for an explanation of her condition. "That's... what I was running from. Guess I didn't run fast enough."

            Despite the girl's forced casual demeanor, Danny could see that Valerie was discreetly looking around, looking for either the fire-headed ghost or himself. At least he didn't have to worry about the huntress blundering across that psychopath. Prior to the split, the ghost definitely had a special place of loathing for Valerie. From what the half-ghost had been able to gather from his trip to that alternate future, it had been Valerie's reaction to learning he was half-ghost that had helped set that future in motion.

            "Yeah, I can tell." Danny grinned sheepishly. "You need anything? Mom's got a first aid kit in the lab."

            "Actually, yeah." Valerie grinning shyly at her friend while Sam rolled her eyes at the display. "That ghost got me pretty good, didn't he?"

            _Compared to what he **wanted** to do, he barely scratched you._ Danny mused to himself as the group migrated inside the building to help tend Valerie's thankfully minor injuries. The four teens who had witnessed the division of Danny's alternate future self had to keep their thoughts on the matter to themselves, at least until Valerie left. From the secretive glances back and forth, it was clear to Danny that they were all at a loss to explain the reactions of the two ghosts.

            Jack and Maddie returned some time later from their ineffective hunt, the adults looking surprisingly deflated. It made sense; not only did the ghost they were after escape, but they had probably seen most of the damage from the ghost's rampage up close, whereas Danny had primarily seen it only from the air. Upon spotting the kids, Maddie veritably sprang over, embracing a startled Danny and Jazz tightly.

            "Oh, I am so glad you're both alright! Your father and I saw the damage outside and we were worried-!" The slender woman declared, while Danny tried to hide a wince as his mom's embrace made his bruised back ache anew.

            "Yeah... We saw the news." Sam gave Danny a sympathetic glance. "And... hid in the basement when we heard a crash!"

            "A crash?" Jack glanced at the goth, expression indicating a desire for further information.

            "I think.... one of the ghosts hit the roof!" Jazz stated. Well, it wasn't a _lie_ , their parents just didn't have to know that the ghost that hit the roof had been Danny.

            "Splattered spooks, the ops center's been compromised!" Jack cried out, bolting for the stairs. "It might still be up there! Let's move, Maddie!"

            Maddie released her hold on her two kids, taking off up the stairs after Jack and pulling an ecto-weapon from some hidden pocket of her jumpsuit. The teens all exchanged mildly confused looks. Really, where could someone possibly conceal an ecto-gun _that_ large in a skin-tight bodysuit?

            "Speaking of nutty parents, I should get home." Valerie stood up with a slight cringe. "My dad's probably about ready to flip wondering where I am."

            "Um, Jazz could probably give you a ride if you don't want to walk-?" Danny offered, earning a dirty look from Jazz, the redhead clearly not wanting to be volunteered without her consent.

            "Oh, no, I'll be okay." Valerie opened the door. "But thanks, Danny. See you later?"

            "Yeah, later Val!" Danny shut the door after the dark girl left. Valerie would probably just use her suit and jet sled to fly home, but he was trying to be nice. With the huntress gone and the elder two Fentons upstairs scouring the ops center for ghostly intrusion, the four teens sat down with a collective sigh.

            "So..." Tucker was the first to break the silence. "Danny wasn't kidding when he said that guy was some sort of freaky fusion of him and Vlad, huh?"

            Another round of silence fell on the room as all four considered that. It was one thing to be told something strange like that. It was another entirely to see concrete proof of it in the form of the two ghosts that were now loose somewhere in the city. There was only one thing any of them could say in the wake of that revelation.

            " ** _EW!_** "

            "Being totally grossed out aside, I'm going to have to find them _both_ and do something about it." Danny sighed, clearly disturbed by the encounter. "I mean, we can't just let them get away after...all of that!"

            The half-ghost gestured at the TV and its ongoing coverage of Amity Park's most recent ghost crisis. Amazingly enough there were no known reports of fatalities from the ghost's rampage, though the report indicated that injuries were in the hundreds and that the totals were still inconclusive. Still, even if no one was killed, it would probably take months for the damage to be repaired. The entire battle had been an uncomfortable reminder of that apocalyptic future.

            "Yeah, instead of one powerful deranged maniac, there's two crazies loose now." Tucker frowned at the television.

            "But it was weird how they both freaked out, don't you think?" Sam finally gave voice to the oddity of the day that had been bothering the entire group. "Plasmius just spazzed out about the thermos, and Da-.... Phantom? He completely freaked out."

            "That's the weird thing. If _he's_ supposed to be some sort of totally evil _me_ , how come they didn't both jump me?" Danny frowned. "Split or not, they had the advantage."

            The group sat in silence considering that. It didn't make any sense, given their limited knowledge of Danny's alternate self. From what they had all seen, and what Danny had told them of that forgotten and time-erased final battle, the ghost hadn't an ounce of compassion in him, there was nothing but hatred and a firm loathing of all life. Certainly the ghost's ego and confidence alone were a nigh-impenetrable barrier to sane reason, and six months stuffed in a Fenton Thermos hadn't made the deranged spook any saner. That Sam had been able to stop the ghost dead in his tracks with wit alone was similarly baffling.

            "I don't think they were just freaking out." Jazz grabbed her backpack and fished a book from it: Headshrinker's Almanac. The younger teens all stared at the redhead as she flipped to the textbook's index and then to a seemingly random page.

            "Hello, did you happen to miss that entire-" Sam pitched her voice deeper in mocking imitation of Phantom's earlier outburst. "' _Get away from me!'_ bit? Split or fused, the guy wasn't anywhere _near_ rational."

            "I'm serious!" Jazz didn't look up from the book. "I think Phantom was showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, not just 'freaking out'."

            "Post-traumatic-whaty-what?" Tucker quirked an eyebrow, unfortunately inviting the lecture full of psychology babble.

            "Post-traumatic stress disorder." Jazz repeated, her voice taking on that teacher-talking-to-student sort of tone she tended to adopt when blathering about psychology. "It's what happens to a person who can't cope with some sort of traumatic experience."

            Danny and his two friends exchanged looks. Maybe Jazz was on to something with the psycho-babble? "Okay Jazz, I'll bite." Danny eased back against the couch cushions.

            "From what you told us, _he_ exists because of some messed up fusion with Vlad's ghost self, right?" Jazz glanced at her brother, who nodded once. "Well, in that other future, what drove _you_ to go to Vlad in the first place?"

            Danny cringed, he didn't particularly like actually associating himself at all with that timeline. "From what Vlad told me in the future, I moved in with him since he was the only guy in the world who could understand me at all after..." He paused, not much liking giving words to that horrible concept. "... after you guys all died in that explosion."

            "So you're telling us that _he's_ like that because he couldn't cope with our getting killed ten years in _his_ past?" Sam sounded dubious.

            "Not counting whatever else got all messed up with the fusion, yes." Jazz nodded, sounding pretty certain of her theory. "And we don't know what else happened in that ten year span."

            "I can guess." Danny shivered, the memories of that twisted future still all-too-fresh in his mind despite the fiasco with the C.A.T. exam being some six months behind him. He gestured again at the television and its aerial footage of the wide swatch of demolition left from the ghost's rampage. "Imagine that, only about a billion times worse. _Everything_ was flattened. The only survivor that we ran into was Valerie."

            "Yeah, and she was pretty far off _her_ nut in that future, too!" Tucker added.

            "Can you really blame her?" Sam pointed out in a rare defense of the huntress. "Apparently in that timeline, Danny really _did_ ruin her entire life."

            "And everything else." Tucker nodded.

            "Can we stay on topic? This isn't about Valerie." Jazz interrupted, mildly annoyed at the off-topic discussion. "Okay, so the explosion and catastrophic loss was the primary trauma. PTSD patients try to avoid things that remind them of the trauma. Which would fit with why Phantom panicked and ran away like that."

            "So why now and not ten years ago?" Danny still wasn't convinced.

            "Blame Vlad?" Jazz shrugged, reciting from the textbook. "'The patient isolates themselves, becoming detached in their feelings with a restricted range of emotional response, and can experience so-called emotional detachment or numbing.' That sounds an awful lot like what _he_ was like before you hit him with the Ghostcatcher. Maybe because of the fusion with Vlad's ghost half, _he_ reacted with some sort of extreme avoidance and didn't have the other symptoms like flashbacks until the fusion was undone?"

            "Blowing everything up is avoidance?" Tucker glanced at Danny. "Isn't that a little... I dunno, ineffective? Or at least really tedious?"

            "Maybe not with the kind of power he's got." Danny frowned, staring at the floor.

            Was it possible that if the unthinkable ever happened that he would willingly opt to try and destroy everything familiar? All in a frantic attempt to try and do away with painful memories? Was there an actual method to his alternate self's madness? Regardless of whether or not there was, it still fell to him to resolve the situation. At least before the insane ghost had been split in half, he was a known enemy. Danny knew relatively well what could be expected of the fire-headed spook. With the ghost now split in two, he now had two relatively unknown opponents to deal with.

            Sure, he could probably make a pretty good guess as to what he could expect of Plasmius. Danny was familiar with the tall ghost's present day counterpart, and how Vlad usually operated. It seemed a reasonable assumption that a fifty-year-old Vlad probably wasn't much different in behavior than the present forty-year-old Vlad was. Still, there were unknowns. Vlad in that warped timeline had acted radically different from the billionaire's present day self after all; there was certainly no guarantee that the man's ghost half alone would be anything like the present timeline archvillain.

            Then there was Phantom, the twenty-four year old version of Danny's own ghostly self. Plasmius was an unknown, but one could make a fair guess about the spikey-haired spook. There was nothing Danny could use to even begin to gauge how his older mirror image would behave. What would happen when the ghost's initial panic wore off? Would he resume the destructive rampage that the fused version had attempted? Would he alter his behavior closer to how Danny himself generally acted?

            "How are we going to even start looking for them, anyway?" Sam quirked an eyebrow at Danny. "And when? No offense, Danny, but I think it's going to have to wait until tomorrow."

            "And just leave them on the loose overnight?" Danny protested.

            "Dude, Sam's right. You got beat up pretty bad." Tucker glanced at his friend, gaze lingering on the variety of bruises and scrapes clearly visible even though the wounds had been sustained while Danny had been in ghost form. "Even if they're loose, they aren't causing trouble yet."

            "And we don't know what they're both capable of." Jazz jumped on the bandwagon. "I think the best thing to do right now is wait until morning. Danny, you should really give yourself a rest while you can. I'm sure if anything happens overnight, it'll be all over the news."

            Danny didn't want to admit it, but his friends and sister had good points. Despite how quickly he tended to bounce back from injuries, he knew he would likely be sore for the next few days. That, and while he was already resolved to tracking the two ghosts down no matter how creepy and unsettling it would be, the half-ghost teen was most certainly _not_ looking forward to that encounter.

            "I guess you guys are right." Danny grumbled. "I just hope Valerie doesn't find them first."

\---

            "You could have been _killed_!" Damon scolded while Valerie sat there glaring at nothing in particular.

            "Well _somebody_ had to stop that ghost!" Valerie protested. Sure, it was dangerous, but after seeing that hotheaded spook's destructive power how could anyone not feel anger and an intense desire to defend against it?

            Heck, even her usual nemesis Danny Phantom had been trying to _stop_ the other ghost. That alone had been strange- the ghost-kid had been fighting that monster with a singleminded intensity that she seldom ever saw him display. He certainly never fought _her_ with that sort of absolute determination. Most of the time he merely avoided her with a sort of impish amusement and fought back only until he could shake her from his tail. The ghost-kid was infuriatingly good at that. In contrast, the nearly do-or-die determination he'd shown that demonic ghost was very nearly disturbing. The huntress didn't care to imagine that intense green-eyed glare directed at her.

            "Why does it have to be _you_ , Valerie?" Her father countered. "Why do _you_ have to put your life on the line fighting ghosts?"

            "Because." Valerie growled, clenching a fist despite the motion sending a painful protest shooting up her arm. "I have the capability to. I'm _good_ at this, and nobody else is gonna stop these stupid ghosts!"

            The entire argument was pointless, really. Unlike her old suit, there was no backpack full of weapons or special watch that Damon could confiscate. Valerie's new suit seemed to be entirely thought-operated, some new nanotechnology perhaps. No matter _what_ Damon commanded, there was little the man could actually _do_ to curtail Valerie's activity.

            "Valerie." Damon massaged the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Sweetie, at least take a break from it for a few days."

            "Dad-!"

            "Valerie, you're already hurt. You stopped the ghost, I don't think there's going to be anything major enough for you to risk your neck over until after you're better." Damon had a good point. There had been simply no way for Valerie to hide the wide variety of scrapes, bruises, and burns she had sustained before she'd blacked out during the fight. Her shoulder hurt an awful lot with even the slightest of movements, it seemed likely she'd twisted or sprained something. Fancy new battle suit or not, with her injuries she would not be able to put up much of a fight, and she knew it.

            "Fine." Valerie grumped, accepting the compromise with no good grace. "I'll be in my room."

            "Thank you, sweetie." Damon gingerly hugged his annoyed daughter as she climbed to her feet.

            Valerie stormed to her room, flopping onto her bed as heavily as her battered body would permit. Sure, her dad was worried about her safety, but in the greater scheme of things, which would have been worse? The huntress risking her neck to stop that monster, or playing it safe while the city burned from the ghost's terrifying power? She mentally reviewed the battle, wondering who the heck that ghost was, and what his relation was to the ghost-boy. The ghost-kid clearly had no love for the tall ghost that shared his DP insignia. Were they rivals of some sort? Siblings perhaps?

            The huntress was jolted from her pondering by the loud ring of her cellular phone next to the bed. With a wince, she snatched the device and flipped it open to take the call. Probably Danny checking to make sure she'd gotten home safely.

            "Hello?" She paused in mild surprise when she recognized the voice on the other end of the line. "Mr. Masters?"


	6. Dark Thoughts

**Dark Thoughts**  
"My past breathes down my neck  
And it seems now that all I can do is  
Go back to beginnings when all lay ahead  
A fading illusion now plagues me instead"  
_-"Solitary Ground" - Epica_

            _What have I done? What did I **do**? Why did I do that? Everyone around me gets hurt or killed because of me-_ The thoughts were an intrusive litany on his consciousness as he flew over the familiar buildings of a city ten years burned to the ground. That _he_ burned to the ground. He wasn't sure if he was crying or not; and if he was, whether it was from anguish or from fear or from something else entirely. He wasn't sure of anything. Everything was wrong, it was his fault, why did he survive that awful day?

            _They_ were all supposed to be dead. It was his fault, if he hadn't cheated on that exam, if only he had made the right choice! Clockwork had been right, he should have turned his behavior around, this was worse than merely witnessing history repeat itself. He could hardly believe himself, what he had been about to do. To _Sam-_! Even through his shock he could still understand why he had been ready and willing to do that to Valerie. But to _Sam_? To _Tucker_? To his _sister_?

            Even Valerie didn't deserve what he had been so close to doing. He shivered as he flew onward, remembering the day he came back to Amity Park after everything had gone so wrong. Try as he might, he could not outrun those memories.

            _"D-danny? What are you doing?" Her voice was stunned, hurt, the first traces of terror flying across her dark face as he stood there, fist still clenched after delivering that first bone-cracking punch._

_"What I should have done months ago." His voice was cold even to his ears as he stood, glaring death at the ghost huntress._

_He was angry, unbelievably enraged, any restraint he might have once possessed ripped away and replaced by hate. He had trusted her with his greatest secret, he had gone to her for comfort, and she repaid his trust with her weapons._

_"I-I know you're probably mad at me, but Danny, after you disappeared, I was so worried-"_

_He didn't let her finish, striking her down again. It felt so_ right _, hurting her, making her pay, retribution for how she had hurt him. "You had your chance, Valerie. We all did."_

_"What are you talking about? Danny, I didn't know... if I'd known, I'd never have done what I did before. I know you're upset-" She gasped as he lashed out a third time, his fist almost instantly raising a welt across the girl's face. "Danny... why are you doing this? I'm your friend!"_

_"I don't have any friends." He stated, a frown crossing his face. "Not anymore."_

            "Why? WHY?" He shrieked to the night, voice cracking on the senseless plea.

            He couldn't stand the achingly familiar city laid out below him. The idea of burning the memory away was worse, a maddening temptation and fright on his already addled mentality. His concentration was shot, wits scrambled, exhaustion setting in. He couldn't stay airborne forever, and fell whimpering toward one of the familiar buildings below. The interior was dark, almost as if abandoned.

            There was no one to hear Phantom's trembling cries.

\---

            "Sugarcookies! Fudgenutters!" He spat, landing atop a random roof and quickly collapsing to a sitting position. "Cinnamon buns! _Apple strudel_!"

            He knew he had to sound absolutely ridiculous; a fierce looking ghost sitting carelessly on a roof and spouting an impressive litany of dessert items. Ten years ago he would never have lost his cool like this. Of course, ten years ago he didn't have the blood of thousands of murders on his hands. Ten years ago he hadn't been subjected to the dizzying and mentally scarring fusion with his archrival's ghostly self. Ten years ago he would never have thought he would be in part responsible for the wholesale annihilation of an entire city and everyone in it.

            Plasmius rubbed the bridge of his nose as his string of pastry oaths finally wound down. What was he going to do now, freed from Daniel's ghost self and ten years of that shared consciousness? Maddie was still alive in this strange new timeline that Daniel had created. He frowned. The woman would never accept him, the ghost half. Though he was loathe to admit it, Plasmius knew that Maddie barely put up with his complete self. He had played his hand in the past poorly, and in the end it hadn't mattered, Maddie was dead. But not now! Thanks to Daniel, the lithe ghost hunter was alive!

            _And so is my intact alternate self._ Plasmius' frown deepened at the thought. He knew quite personally that his past self would _not_ appreciate any competition for Maddie's affection. That was why they both hated Jack so badly, after all. His past self had every advantage, no less. Vlad Masters had the money, had the estate, had the connections and contacts. Vlad Masters had the one thing that mattered most: a human form.

            Plasmius could easily overshadow someone and continue his pursuit of Maddie's affection that way... but no. He wanted her to love _him_ , not some meat puppet. He could access the vast fortunes of his present timeline self, perhaps try and launch new schemes of his own. No, his present day self would notice the financial drain. Vlad Masters had no qualms about spending large sums of money, but he also kept meticulous records of his spending.

            His present day self could become quite a threat. Plasmius considered what he could dredge from his own addled memory. There were gaps in what he could remember from before the fusion. The ghost _knew_ there were bits of recollection missing, information that would put him at a disadvantage if he was careless. His recollection of the past ten years was painfully flawless, each murder burned into memory. But fifteen years ago? Twenty years ago? All he could dredge were disconnected images and emotions. Like staring at a fauvist painting, he could gauge the emotion and vague idea, but the details were beyond lost; a blur of impressions.

            Plasmius knew there was _something_ wrong, horribly, unimaginably _wrong_ ; but he could not yet place just _what_ it was.

\---

            "Ah yes, Miss Gray." Vlad leaned on the armrest of his comfortably upholstered chair, phone propped against his ear. "I haven't caught you at a bad time, have I?"

            "No, no, of course not!" The young huntress's hastily replied over the phone. She sounded tired, the background noise implied to the billionaire that Valerie was lying down. "Is something wrong?"

            "I'm afraid so, my dear." Vlad scowled. "As you know, I have been supplying you with weapons and equipment to fight ghosts, the ghost-boy in particular."

            "Yeah, the new stuff works great!" Valerie's grin was clear in her voice.

            _"New stuff?" I haven't given her any new equipment recently._ Vlad quirked an eyebrow, mentally filing a note to look into that later.

            "Well, I'm not certain if it reached the news in Amity Park, but my home was destroyed today." Vlad smiled slightly when he heard Valerie's gasp of surprise.

            "Are you alright?" She asked. "What happened?"

            "Fortunately, I wasn't inside when it happened. It would seem however, that the ghosts know I've been the one giving you weapons." Vlad paused, to give the girl the proper chance to jump to conclusions.

            "You mean a ghost did it?" Valerie yelped, her tone laden immediately with a finely-honed anger.

            "Not just any ghost." Vlad kept his tone carefully level. "I have good reason to believe that it was in fact Phantom himself. Perhaps he learned I was supplying you, and thought to take out his problems at their source."

            " _He_ did it?!" Valerie shouted loud enough that the archvillain winced and held the phone away from his ear for a moment. "After what happened today, he-"

            "Wait, something happened today?" Vlad interrupted the huntress and her tirade.

            The billionaire hadn't yet caught up on the news, with the better part of the day having been spent on shifting his operations to his vacation house. Well, he had been meaning to take a trip to Colorado anyway. While much of the clone experimentation could be controlled remotely from Wisconsin, he did prefer to check up on that particular project personally.

            "Yeah, something _happened_ today." Valerie spat with a venom in her voice that impressed even the billionaire. "And I bet you that it made national news, too!"

            _Oh cheeselogs, and I haven't had a chance yet to watch the news._ Vlad griped to himself. "Unfortunately, I've been terribly busy today. I assume you were there and involved in whatever happened?"

            "Well yeah!" Valerie scoffed. "Some creepy ghost was outright attacking the city, Mr. Masters. The ghost-kid and I were _both_ trying to fight the guy!"

            "Wait, wait. You _cooperated_ with Danny Phantom?" Vlad's interest was piqued.

            Was Valerie's "creepy ghost" related to the ghost he thought was somehow Daniel? If Daniel was in Amity Park during the day, there was simply no way for the boy to have been in Wisconsin. Unless Daniel had not only acquired a great deal more power but also a considerable boost in flight speed. The flight from Madison to Amity Park took a number of hours even for Vlad; he couldn't imagine any way for Daniel to be in both places within a single day.

            "Not intentionally." Valerie sounded almost apologetic about having actively cooperated with her nemesis. "But between the ghost kid and that guy, the ghost kid was the lesser of two evils."

            "Really now?" Vlad found himself glad that he had decided to phone Valerie.

            He had originally planned to tell the huntress that Daniel had destroyed his castle in retaliation for supplying Valerie with her weaponry. Ideally that would give the girl further motivation for attacking the boy. Now however, it seemed that the circumstances involving his castle were not so simple, and the girl could be a useful source of information.

            "Yeah, you wouldn't believe how powerful that ghost was." Valerie 's voice held the barest note of... was that fear?

            "Do go on." Vlad shifted to lean back more comfortably in his chair. He was probably going to be there for awhile. "I'm most curious about this other ghost."

            There was a pause over the phone line as Valerie apparently organized her thoughts. Whatever had happened seemed to have thoroughly rattled the fiercely motivated huntress. Vlad hadn't heard anything about any ghosts with such power, and he was usually quite well-informed of the latest news out of the Ghost Zone.

            "It was awful, Mr. Masters." Yes, that was definitely fear, perhaps even just a shred of honest terror thrown in for good measure. "I didn't catch a name, but he looked like he might have been related to the ghost-kid. I thought they were brothers or something."

            "Really now?" Vlad quirked an eyebrow at the information. "What makes you think the two were related?"

            "Well..." Valerie paused, a frown clear in her voice. "The older guy looked kinda like Phantom. They had similar outfits, and the same emblem. You know, that D-P thing on the chest?"

            "Yes, I know the emblem." Vlad frowned. Daniel's silly little logo always struck the billionaire as extremely childish.

            "But it was really weird. The ghost-kid was totally bent on stopping the guy, he even seemed offended when I accused him of being related to that other ghost." Valerie continued.

            "And what precisely was this ghost doing, my dear? You sound rather shaken by whatever happened." Vlad shifted his tone to sound slightly more sympathetic to the girl's plight.

            "He was... it was awful." Valerie's voice caught on the declaration. Clearly whatever she had seen was deeply troubling. "He was attacking people, destroying anything he could get at. I watched him blow up an entire _building_! And he was laughing, he was _enjoying_ it!"

            "Valerie, please calm yourself." Vlad interrupted the girl's tirade, honestly surprised at what must have happened to rattle the huntress so badly. "What became of this ghost?"

            There was another pause. "I... don't know for sure. He hit me pretty hard and I think I blacked out. He was gone when I came to."

            "I see. And Phantom-?" Vlad prompted.

            "He was gone too." Valerie's voice regained a fragment of its usual steel at the mention of her nemesis.

            Vlad nodded to himself at the information. It was clear now to the billionaire that the circumstances of his castle's destruction were far more complicated than he had initially anticipated. If it wasn't Daniel's doing, who was this new ghost that had come almost literally out of nowhere? Clearly there was something going on that he needed to be aware of.

            "Might I make a suggestion?" Vlad knew he had to take care of his pawn first; it was evident that Valerie was not going to be of much use in this scenario.

            "Sure."

            "Take a break from ghost hunting, would you?" Vlad immediately heard the hissing intake of breath as the girl prepared to argue the matter, and he quickly continued. "You are clearly not in peak form due to this ghost. It wouldn't do for you to get hurt or worse by pushing yourself so soon after such a terrible encounter."

            "But what if that ghost is still on the loose? Who's gonna stop him from..." Valerie trailed off, apparently uncomfortable with stating it. _Killing_ people.

            "Yes, well there isn't anything going on right now, is there?" Vlad wouldn't admit it, but even he was unsettled at the notion of a ghost who was willing and perfectly capable of performing lethal violence on a grand scale.

            "Well... no." Valerie grudgingly admitted.

            "Then get some rest. It would be a shame for your talent to be wasted because of a single careless act." Vlad smirked when he heard the girl sigh. Appealing to her ego was a certain way to make sure she wasn't underfoot. "I shall look into the matter myself."

            "Really?" Valerie sounded thoroughly surprised. "But don't you have to deal with the stuff about your house blowing up?"

            "A simple enough matter. I would think that this ghost takes priority over my castle, wouldn't you agree?" Vlad was already considering how he would investigate this new ghost. "After all, a building can be replaced. The victims of this ghost cannot."

            "Yeah..." Valerie groaned. "Alright, I'll get some rest. Thanks for taking care of this, Mr. Masters."

            "Oh, think nothing of it, my dear." Vlad prepared to end the long-distance call. "You just focus on your own recovery."

            "I will. Good night!"

            Vlad set the phone handset back in its cradle, musing on this new information. With his ghost portal destroyed _again_ , it would take at least several days before he heard from Skulker. The vultures he could send almost immediately, but the trio of feathered ghosts weren't exactly intelligent enough to find the information the billionaire wanted. He needed to know what Daniel was up to, and he needed to find out more information on the ghost who had the nerve to attack his castle.

            If only Valerie hadn't been knocked out during the fight! Much to Vlad's annoyance, the girl's story of events left out the critical information: What _had_ happened to the apparently psychotic ghost? Had Daniel been able to beat the ghost, or had something else occurred? Vlad Masters relied heavily on information to plan his schemes; he was not a man who enjoyed not _knowing_ what was going on at any given time.

            With an annoyed sigh, Vlad stood up and made his way to the basement, looking over the various containment tanks. The clones inside them were not yet ready, and most were horribly misshapen. They would only be of any use as disposable minions, and the archvillain suspected they wouldn't be much good even for that. Still, he held out hope that the 'good clone' could be stabilized using the knowledge he had gained from the creation of the monstrosities.

            That particular scheme would have to wait, Vlad noted to himself as he walked past the cloning equipment to a computer console against the far wall. With the press of a few buttons the billionaire sent off an electronic message to Skulker. True the hunter was a ghost, but Skulker's suit was built with the best technology the Ghost Zone and the real world could offer. Contacting the ghost was no more difficult than sending an e-mail. All he had to do was wait for the brute's report.

            Vlad Masters _despised_ waiting.

\---

            "Darn it!" Danny growled as he and his friends tried to pick their way through the mess of caution tape and hurried reconstruction. "It's been almost a _week_ , and we haven't had any luck finding those two!"

            "On the other hand, there hasn't been a sequel to _this_." Sam gestured at the blasted out heap of rubble that had been a building.

            "Yeah, but what if they start again?" Danny's gaze slid over the shattered concrete and mortar.

            "Dude, don't be so hard on yourself." Tucker gave his friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "People got hurt, yeah, but nobody got killed!"

            "But a lot of people _did_ get hurt." Danny frowned. "Some of them really bad."

            It had been a long several days, the teens spending as much time as possible roaming the streets of Amity Park trying to locate the two ghosts. No one had seen or heard anything unusual, it was almost as if both had simply vanished from the face of the Earth.

            Plasmius observed the trio invisibly from above, far enough away so as not to upset Daniel's apparent ghost-detecting ability. He still hadn't decided on what he would do with himself, and he had the constant nagging feeling that something was off. It had started as simply a vague notion; but as the days ground on, the tall ghost noticed that vague notion was slipping steadily into mild discomfort.

            As the teens below rounded a corner Plasmius felt a sudden chill, gasping in surprise. That wasn't right. He _knew_ what it was; ten years of fusion with Daniel's ghost self had given the older ghost plenty of opportunity to experience the boy's ghost sense. What failed to make sense was that he knew he never _had_ that ability. Yet he had no doubt that was what just occurred.

            The whine of jet engines pulled Plasmius from musing on this strange development and he spun to face the source of the noise. Skulker was flying overhead, apparently also spying on Daniel. The hunter seldom simply spied on the boy, he was normally bent on having Daniel's pelt as a wall ornament unless...

            _Of course._ Plasmius nearly slapped his forehead. His present day self would be displeased about the destruction of the castle. He couldn't blame his alternate self for it, either. Laying waste to _that_ much rare and valuable Packers stuff was an unspeakable crime. Still, he didn't particularly want to deal with the billionaire yet if it could be avoided.

            Plasmius drifted up to Skulker's altitude, clearing his throat loudly. "Skulker, what are _you_ doing here?"

            The big ghost spun in surprise at the displeased voice, a multitude of weapons activating as he swung around, ready to let fly at whoever thought to sneak up on him. Upon seeing Plasmius though, he lowered the weapons in surprise.

            "I'm here finding the information you wanted me to find." Skulker raised one metallic eyebrow, confused.

            _I was right._ Plasmius noted to himself. Skulker was playing minion to find information for his present day self. "I don't need it anymore."

            It was Skulker's turn to frown as the armored ghost studied Plasmius. Far be it for the hunter to miss details. "Wait.... you aren't him."

            "Of _course_ I am, fool!" Plasmius snapped. "Who do you _think_ I am?"

            Apparently his tone came across in a flawless rendition of Vlad Masters at his most irate, for Skulker backed down momentarily. Plasmius suspected he still wasn't going to be able to bluff his way out of the situation however. Skulker again sized the ghost up, a small scanning device sliding out of his armor as he glanced at Plasmius' slightly tattered attire.

            "I don't know who you are." Skulker announced, aiming one of his weapons. "I will admit your camouflage _is_ impressive, but it will take more than that to fool Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!"

            _Oh dinner rolls._ Plasmius mentally groaned. Of course the diplomatic solution failed. The ghost wasn't worried, he knew his strength was leaps and bounds beyond Skulker's most powerful weaponry. If he had to pound Skulker to forestall dealing with the present-day Vlad, so be it.

            Plasmius raised a square energy shield to deflect Skulker's first volley of weapons fire, fully expecting the projectiles to ping harmlessly off the barrier. Needless to say, he let out a startled yelp when instead the barrier shattered under the assault, several blasts striking the ghost and sending him reeling.

            "What was _that_?" Plasmius gasped out as he recovered from the attack. That wasn't right, Skulker's weaponry shouldn't have been able to so much as _scratch_ him!

            Skulker didn't answer, readying a second round and firing. Rather than try his luck on a shield that he no longer trusted, Plasmius darted around the rockets, using small red ecto-blasts to destroy the few he couldn't avoid. The tall ghost wasted no time after the smoke cleared, launching his own volley, red beams striking Skulker's armor in a multitude of places.

            "I enjoy it when my prey puts up a fight." Skulker growled with a steely grin, ignoring the damage done to his suit.

            Further banter was cut off by an obnoxious digital ringtone sounding from the ghost's wrist. With an expression that was part surprise, part annoyance, and part fear, Skulker raised one arm, consulting a device on his armor. Plasmius held his fire, curious as to what this meant.

            "'Check traveling exhibit on the purpleback gorilla'..." Skulker recited, confused. "'Checking online schedules'.... _San Diego, California_?"

            The boosters on the ghost's jetpack spun up to full speed, almost drowning out Skulker's angry cry of "Not again!" In moments the hunter was careening into the sky and in a vaguely southern direction. Plasmius floated there blinking dumbly at the display for nearly a full minute before a bolt of pain shot down his spine.

            Plasmius didn't even have the chance to spit a food-item oath before he plummeted, thrashing to a graceless landing on a rooftop. The spasm passed quickly enough, leaving the ghost sprawled flat on his back and dazed. What _was_ that? It felt almost as though something had tried to rip him limb from limb, an ache that while subsided had not completely gone away.

            Vague notion had changed to mild discomfort and now to actual pain. Something _was_ wrong, seriously so. Plasmius struggled to a sitting position, rubbing his head and trying to ignore the dull ache that lingered still. It had been days since the split. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of Daniel, though he'd seen plenty of this timeline's alternate, intact version. Was it possible that the ghostly halves couldn't sustain themselves separately?

            Plasmius's red eyes opened wide at a mental image. He recalled how some of his animal ghost experiments had been so unstable that they had simply melted away to nothing. Was that to be his fate separated from Daniel's ghost half, split out of that genocidal existence? Twisted fusion or absolute oblivion?

            This was far too dire a situation for mere pastry or dairy-based oaths.

            " ** _Caesar salad!_** "


	7. A Moral Dilemma

**A Moral Dilemma**  
"You’re the hand that I rejected  
But I can’t forgive myself  
I am selfish and not worthy  
To think of, even to die for"  
_-"Mother of Light" - Epica_ **  
**

            "You _what_?" Vlad scowled.

            "You know I don't lie." Skulker snapped in response. He hadn't enjoyed his trip to California to see the traveling gorilla exhibit, and the hunter was in no mood for putting up with one of Vlad's tantrums.

            "Did you at least get any images?" Vlad rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.

            It had not been a good day for the billionaire. First another one of his clone attempts melted. Then Skulker arrived with a report that was only slightly better than Valerie's incomplete description of events from a week ago. The hunter's description left the half-ghost  more confounded than before. Valerie said that the ghost looked like a distant relation to Daniel, only psychotic and deranged. Skulker was saying that the ghost looked like a surprisingly accurate duplicate of the billionaire himself, and that this spook was rational and clever. Trying to pull the truth from the mismatching descriptions was giving Vlad quite the headache.

            "Yes, I recorded plenty of footage of the encounter." Skulker growled, fishing a computer disk from some compartment in his armor and handing it over. "And I had plenty of time to download it to a disk for you on the way to San Diego."

            Vlad accepted the disk with no good grace. Not even he could figure out how to get that blasted PDA out of Skulker's armor without having to replace the suit entirely. For all the ghost's mechanical knowledge, the hunter had somehow done a bang-up job of meshing that stupid portable computing device into his armor.

            "Thank you for your services." The billionaire dismissed Skulker with a slight wave of one hand. "If I require any further assistance, I shall be in contact."

            Vlad paid the ghost no further heed; Skulker could find his own way out of the mansion, and the billionaire was eager to go through what data Skulker had been able to obtain. He heard the sound of Skulker's jetpack, and in a moment the noise was gone with the ghost, so Vlad slipped the disk into the large computer console against the wall. In a moment a face appeared on the monitor, smiling warmly at him.

            "I am happy to serve you today, sweetheart." A fairly accurate rendition of Maddie's voice issued from the machine.

            "Start analyzing that data disk and show me the results." Vlad crossed his arms as he watched the face disappear from the screen, immediately replaced by a flurry of numbers and letters- the disk being processed.

            "Anything for you, muffin."

            After a moment the computer jargon was replaced by the video footage Skulker had taken of the ghost. Next to it was the same footage, overlaid with various analytical notations denoting ambient energies and such. Several still images also appeared on the screen, displaying various analysis on the ghost. Vlad's eyebrows both shot up at the visual confirmation of Skulker's description. Whoever this interloper was, he was _quite_ good at mimicking others. Without being told, the computer also brought up a few photos of Vlad himself in both forms to compare against the duplicate. It was almost disturbing how close the fake was to flawlessly copying the billionaire's ghostly appearance. Vlad was mildly baffled why the copycat looked to be several years older than he currently was however; he would peg the ghost's approximate age at somewhere above fifty, perhaps even pushing sixty.

            "Ectoplasmic energy readings show no match to anything in my database, darling." The computer announced finally.

            Vlad scowled at the image of his doppelganger on the screen. He knew some ghosts could very accurately mimic other objects. Spectra's assistant Bertrand was probably the most renown for such an ability, but it couldn't possibly be that formless ghost. The deranged psychologist and her short little helper had no reason to destroy his castle. Besides, he knew for a fact that neither of them was capable of that kind of destructive power.

            "What's the closest match then?" He snapped.

            "Checking for the nearest match now, pookie."

            _"Pookie?" I never programmed that into her list of endearments._ Vlad noted to himself. Several of the images on the screen disappeared, making room for the search now running on the monitor. It skimmed through its entire database on ghosts, a veritable encyclopedia on the Ghost Zone and the spooks that inhabited it. Each image was accompanied by a graph below it and a percentage: how close a match it was to the mystery ghost.

            "Closest match is ninety-eight percent, snoogiebear."

            Vlad frowned. From what he had learned, there was generally at least a twenty-percent difference in ecto-signature between any two ghosts, even the most closely related. For the computer to say that the strange ghost wasn't in the database and then find a ninety-eight percent match was most intriguing. "Go on."

            "It seems, woogums, that _you_ are the closest match." The computer chirped, bringing up Vlad's mugshot alongside the footage.

            Vlad stared at the computer for nearly a full minute as that little revelation sank in. "I'm _what_?"

            "According to my database, your ecto-signature is a ninety-eight percent match to the data given, lovecake." The computer repeated, a helpful indicator arrow blinking next to the graph depicting the ecto-signatures in question.

            "Fudge truffles!" Vlad exclaimed. "How can _I_ be the closest match?"

            The situation made no sense. There was plenty of information to be had, but clearly vital information to connect those facts was still missing. The billionaire _knew_ what he had seen: a tall, muscular ghost with flaming white hair and Daniel's silly emblem. Valerie's description coincided with that; describing a tall, pale ghost with that same emblem and positively terrifying destructive power. But Skulker's report revealed a ghost that was a disturbingly accurate clone of the archvillain himself, yet far less powerful. Clearly there was a disconnect in the facts between the two.

            "I'm sorry, sweetness, but I do not have an answer to that question." The computer replied.

            "I _know_ that already!" Vlad snarled at the cheerful device. Perhaps he made a mistake in programming the computer's AI system to resemble a cheerful, submissive Maddie.

            He stormed out of the lab and back upstairs to the den, still going over what he had found out so far. It made no sense, and Vlad always found himself getting irritable when something didn't make sense. He didn't put much faith in mere coincidence; it was clear to him that the ghost from the castle and the ghost Skulker fought briefly with were somehow connected. It was the "how" that remained unclear. Plus there was the tangential matter of Daniel's involvement. The emblem firmly linked the fire-haired ghost with the child, once again it was the matter of "how" that was the problem.

            "If you want something done right..." Vlad grumbled, the cliche unfortunately very true. "You have to do it yourself."

            It would take a few hours to get all of his business in order, but clearly Vlad had one reliable option. He would be able to reach Amity Park sometime during the night. He would make the trip to Amity Park and coerce the information out of Daniel himself. By force or hostage-taking if such measures were deemed necessary. Vlad Masters was not the sort to take being played the fool very well at all. Indeed, it was a surefire means of getting the normally calm and calculating man's temper to show itself.

\---

            "Okay, we checked at what's left of the Nasty Burger." Danny frowned, going over the group's fruitless search.

            "Check." Tucker nodded, looking through a list of locations on his PDA. "And we checked the mall, all our houses..."

            "A bunch of locations in the Ghost Zone..." Sam interjected.

            "You know, Mom and Dad are going to throw a fit if they ever find out how often you guys take the Specter Speeder without permission." Jazz noted, having recently joined the meeting.

            "They're not gonna find out!" Danny protested.

            "Well, yeah." Jazz conceded the point. "Still, you guys probably know how to work that contraption better than Dad does."

            At her insistence, Jazz had joined several of the search expeditions, psychology textbook loaded and ready to go. When the idea had first been suggested to check in the Ghost Zone for the two ghosts, the redhead had almost expected that she would be stuck trying to drive the Speeder since she was the only member of "Team Phantom" with a license. Needless to say, she had been mildly surprised when it had been Sam to slide into the pilot's seat with an easy confidence that spoke of a lot of practice.

            Granted, it didn't do the group much good. A little more than a week of searching, and there was still no trace of either half of the split spook. Not even any of the few ghosts that Danny was on good terms with had seen anything. Dora had promised that she would have her guards searching in the Ghost Zone after Danny had explained to the dragon princess what was going on, but so far nothing had come up.

            "I don't get it. The guy was completely off his nut before Danny hit him with the Ghostcatcher. You'd think a couple of ghosts like that would be pretty hard to miss." Tucker glanced up from his PDA.

            "Well looking hasn't done any good." Danny griped, munching on some chips. "There's got to be a better way to find them!"

            Jazz got up, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I think I've got an idea. I'll be right back!"

            The remaining three teens exchanged looks as Danny's sister ducked out of the bedroom.

            "Y'know, she's been awfully insistent about finding those ghosts." Sam observed once it was certain that Jazz was out of earshot.

            "Yeah." Tucker agreed. "She's had her nose in that psycho book of hers a lot all week."

            "Tell me about it." Danny groaned, laying back on his bed. "Every night all she's been talking about is post-traumatic stressors, trigger events, dissociative identities, flashbacks and cigars."

            "Cigars?" His friends asked in unison.

            "Yeah, something about a cigar not really being a cigar or something." Danny shrugged. "I don't get it either."

            The conversation was cut off as Jazz bounded back into the room, gripping a chrome and green device with both hands. Danny stifled the urge to groan when he recognized the gadget.

            "There is a ghost three feet ahead." The machine chirped. "And slightly to your left."

            "Oh, I'm impressed." Danny remarked, tone sarcastic. "Good work Jazz, you found _me_!"

            "Very funny." Jazz started fiddling with the device. "Maybe this has a long-range thing on it, and it might make finding them easier! Dad _did_ say it used satellites to track ghosts."

            "Wait, when did he say that?" Danny blinked in confusion.

            "About a month after the accident in the lab?" Jazz prompted.

            "Dude, you actually remembered details about your dad's blathering?" Tucker quirked an eyebrow.

            "That's beside the point." Jazz muttered as the device made a brief clicking noise. "There, I think I switched the settings."

            "Welcome to the Fenton Finder. Please state your current search parameters." The device stated.

            "Parameters-?" Jazz glanced at the younger teens who all shrugged.

            "Search parameters, for the uneducated, include-" The scanner's tone took on a surprisingly mocking edge. "Range of scan, minimum and maximum ectoplasmic power level, number of targets-"

            "Okay, I get it!" Jazz snapped at the device. "Hm... range twenty miles, minimum power level of... five."

            "When did you get versed in ghost hunting?" Sam shot the redhead a weird look.

            "I've been doing research. For my college thesis." Jazz scoffed, watching the scanner's little screen.

            "There are three ghosts that meet the search parameters." The device declared, a trio of red dots showing on the round radar screen.

            That got the group's attention. Danny, Sam, and Tucker clustered around Jazz to see what the device had to say. The dot almost on top of the screen's center marker was obviously Danny.

            "Are we sure that's accurate?" Sam glanced from the screen at Danny.

            "We can find out. See, I'll just use Danny to calibrate it" Jazz fussed with the device some more. "We can assume that the two ghosts are probably close to Danny's level or higher, and that there aren't many ghosts in the area that are above that."

            "At least it should narrow the search down." Danny admitted.

            The same three dots turned up scanning for level six readings, and again for seven. The marker representing Danny disappeared from the screen on eight, while the other two flickered faintly. It had to be the two spooks.

            "One of them is moving." Sam pointed at the red blip moving in a seemingly random direction.

            "But that one's just staying put." Tucker indicated the other one, which hadn't moved a bit since Jazz fired the device up.

            "Sounds like a good place to start." Danny transformed, immediately floating a few inches off the ground. "Where is that, anyway?"

            Jazz checked the screen's alignment, glancing out Danny's bedroom window. It took her a moment to approximate the distance, but she had to smirk when she realized where it was.

            "The one place we haven't looked."

\---

            "And here I was planning on _avoiding_ Casper High for the entire summer!" Danny griped to no one in particular as he flew toward the building.

            Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were several minutes behind the half-ghost, driving to the school instead of flying. Though Danny would be the first to arrive, the deserted school wasn't exactly a small building; it would take a thorough search to locate the ghost. Plus there was no telling if the ghost would be able to detect his presence, nor how it might react if it did.

            Danny touched down in front of the school's front facade and repressed a shiver. He'd been inside the building after hours plenty of times before, and he'd long since gotten over the spooky factor of a dark and empty school. But a dark and empty school over summer vacation, without so much as a single janitor around? The place had an abandoned ambience, far creepier than the school was after hours during the school year.

            The interior was more eerie than the exterior, the only light in the hallways provided by the dim red glow of the exit signs, daylight coming into the closed classrooms highlighting patches of the hallway in the murk. The silence was nearly oppressive as Danny began checking each room on the first floor, quickly moving through the sterile classrooms and empty offices. The first floor turned up nothing of the ghost, and a search of the building's basement level storage rooms yielded similar results.

            "Whoever it is has got to be around here somewhere!" Danny griped, his voice echoing down the hallway as the half-ghost floated up through the floor from the basement.

            Danny paused as he passed a stairwell, frowning. Were his ears playing tricks on him in the silence? He stood there, listening closely. No, there _was_ something; a faint noise echoing down the staircase, garbled sounds that almost sounded like whimpering. Did a dog or somebody's cat get locked inside the building?

            _Well, I need to check the upper floors anyway._ Danny flew up the stairs, listening to the faint sound.

            Before long, the faint sound resolved itself. It _was_ whimpering, but it was _not_ someone's missing pet. Danny froze a few feet from a classroom door, listening to the broken sounds coming from within. It wasn't quite sobbing, the voice was too quiet and too raspy for sobbing.

            _Wait... that's the room I took the C.A.T. in!_ It didn't seem logical for Plasmius to be at the school, and the voice sounded like the twenty-four year old Phantom. Danny wasn't sure yet if he was relieved by that fact or more worried. He took hold of the thermos he had brought slung over one shoulder. _Here goes_.

            The noise inside stopped about the same time Danny felt the chill of his ghost sense. It seemed that the split spook was able to detect ghosts after all. Danny prepared to make an intangible dive through the door and get things started. Sure, the others weren't there yet, but it was _his_ fight. As much as he appreciated the support of his friends, he was quite worried that they would get hurt in the crossfire.

            "Go away!" The door was blasted open, colliding with Danny before he could think to phase through it.

            Danny recovered quickly, shaking powered bits of door from his hair as he got back up. _Okay, guess he's still all freaked out._ A quick groping in the dark for the thermos was interrupted by a flurry of small green blasts, lighting the dim hallway and striking lockers behind Danny as he darted through the barrage.

            "Sorry, I'd love to, but somebody's gotta go back to time out for bad behavior!" Danny quipped, floating into the air and using the wall behind him for leverage to launch himself at the older ghost.

            Phantom paused with a frown. "You used that one alre-oof!"

            The pair tumbled back through the open door and into the classroom, upsetting several desks in the deserted room. Phantom screeched in panic at the physical contact, grappling with Danny until he was able to dislodge the smaller half ghost and fling him away. Luckily Danny recovered his trajectory before hitting the wall, and floated there as the older ghost got up, panting heavily.

            "Why?" The ghost demanded, voice cracking on the demand. "Why did it have to be like this? Everyone... you... no, I, and they're all... GAH!"

            Danny boggled at the apparently psychotic behavior. His alternate future self was paler than he recalled from a week ago. Pale, and looking incredibly high strung, like someone who'd had too many shots of espresso. Granted, assuming Phantom had been in a panic the entire week, it did somewhat make sense.

            The teen half-ghost glanced around. The fight needed to be moved elsewhere, otherwise there was going to be a lot more damage to the school than one door, some lockers and a few overturned desks. Before Phantom could jump him a second time, Danny shot a medium-sized ecto-beam at the ghost. It worked, the spook yelped and got sent flying backward, phasing through the wall and plunging to a halt outside the school, Danny in hot pursuit.

            "Over there!" Both ghosts glanced at the source of the sound, where Jazz's car was parked. Tucker now had custody of the Fenton Finder, while Sam was armed with another Fenton Thermos. Jazz was perhaps the most heavily armed, a large textbook in hand.

            "Sam-!" Phantom squeaked, crawling to his feet." And Jazz-! And-"

            He was cut off by Danny slamming into him from behind, sending the taller ghost tumbling to the ground. "Guys, get the thermos! Mine's inside!"

            The group of teens all stopped in surprise when Phantom let out a piercing shriek, curling up on the ground and quaking terribly. Danny walked over, standing over his older mirror image, but got no response from the ghost. The shrieking gave way to pained whimpers, a seemingly exhausted Phantom quivering helplessly on the asphalt of the parking lot.

            "Or, maybe we won't need the thermos." Danny quirked an eyebrow, readying another ecto-blast just in case.

            "Uh, guys." Tucker piped up, watching the Finder's screen.

            "What-" Danny was interrupted by a pink energy blast slamming into him from behind and knocking him away from Phantom.

            "... I was gonna say the other ghost was heading this way-" Tucker stated lamely. "But I think you already know that."

            "Daniel, stop!" The new arrival floated down, landing near Phantom.

            "Oh great, the loopy half of the equation." Danny griped as he got back upright. It took him a moment to verify that the familiar form of Plasmius was in fact the older one, and not the present-day version.

            "Fruit loop commentary aside..." Plasmius growled.

            "Right, right. I was going to take care of him first, but I guess I have to deal with you, too." Danny grumbled, bracing for a fight.

            "Oh stand _down_ already!" Plasmius snapped. "I'm not here for a fight!"

            That gave Danny pause. "I'm _not_ giving you Mom's phone number."

            "I wasn't going to ask!" Plasmius exclaimed, clearly irate. "I think I've had far _more_ than my fair share of fighting and scheming, thank you. We need to talk, Daniel. This is important!"

            Plasmius glanced down at the quivering form of Phantom, stern features softening just barely at the pathetic sight. Danny followed the ghost's stare, finding himself more than slightly disturbed by his alternate self's muffled cries. It sounded almost as if Phantom was in pain; serious, utterly debilitating pain.

            "... What is _wrong_ with him?" Danny finally asked, though he kept a wary eye on Plasmius.

            " _That_ is what we need to discuss." Plasmius turned to put some distance between the teens and the incapacitated ghost. "In private, preferably."

            The others joined Danny as Plasmius rounded the corner of the building. Phantom still hadn't gotten up. If anything, he was curled up tighter.

            "This is just getting weirder and weirder." Danny frowned.

            "It can't hurt to hear him out." Jazz glanced in the direction Plasmius had gone, and then down at Phantom, a brief look of worry crossing her face.

            "Want us to come too?" Tucker glanced at Danny.

            "No, I think he wants to talk to just me." Danny's frown deepened.

            "What about him-?" Sam gestured at Phantom.

            "We've got a Fenton Thermos." Jazz responded almost too-quickly. "Don't worry about us, Danny. Go see what the fruit loop wants."

            "Alright." Danny relented, starting for where Plasmius went. "You guys shout if something happens!"

            "So we just trap him and wait for Danny?" Sam powered the Thermos on after Danny disappeared around the corner.

            "No, don't!" Jazz averted the device's aim.

            The teens looked at Jazz like the redhead had gone nuts. After all, containing the apparent threat posed by the two ghosts _had_ been the agenda for the past week.

            "Jazz, that was the plan, remember?" Sam quirked an eyebrow at Danny's sister.

            "Does he _look_ dangerous, Sam?" Jazz indicated the whimpering form on the ground.

            "Everybody... I don't want..." The rest of Phantom's mumbling was muffled by his arms. His quivering had stopped; to the outside observer it seemed at least that the ghost wasn't in physical pain.

            "But all that stuff before-" Tucker protested.

            "He's _traumatized_!" Jazz interrupted the techno-geek. "He's not evil or hostile, he's **scared**!"

            "Okay." Sam put the thermos away, resting one hand on her hip. "If we aren't going to trap him, what _are_ we going to do with him?"

            "How about try _talking_ to him?" Jazz prompted. "So far everyone he's encountered since he got out of the thermos has been trying to hurt him."

            "You really think talking to him is gonna do any good?" Tucker gave voice to the doubt that was evident on Sam's face.

            "I don't think it will make anything _worse_." Jazz declared. "PTSD, remember? He hasn't gotten over the trauma that caused this."

            Sam and Tucker exchanged doubtful looks. Jazz hadn't seen that terrible future; the redhead's encounter with the fused ghost had been extremely brief. Or perhaps Jazz was simply more optimistic about the situation than the two teens.

            "After you then, Doctor Fenton." Sam stepped aside, the goth's tone lightly sarcastic.

\---

            "Okay, what do you want, Plasmius?" Danny snapped.

            "Simply put, Daniel; I require your assistance." Plasmius replied calmly, perhaps even relieved to be on the receiving end of Danny's temper.

            "My assistance?" Danny glared, recalling what had happened the _last_ time Vlad had 'requested' his help. "Diet soda, problem solved."

            "What?" Plasmius looked dumbfounded, not grasping the joke.

            "Forget it." Danny grumbled. "What's this about _him_ , and why do you need _my_ help?"

            "Well, as you are well aware, your ghost self and I have been fused as a single entity for the past decade." Plasmius explained. "And the end result has done some atrocious things."

            Danny had to quirk an eyebrow at the sheer disgust in the older ghost's tone, and at the shiver at whatever the ghost was recalling of those atrocities. "Yeah. What's this got to do with me?"

            "Simply put, if you're worried about either of us continuing in such destructive behavior, you needn't worry." Plasmius admitted, frowning. "It seems to me that now your other self and I have been split apart, we aren't going to be able to sustain ourselves for terribly long."

            "Wait, what?" Danny's eyebrows shot up. "Not sustain yourself? Meaning-?"

            "Meaning, boy-" Plasmius finally met Danny's gaze. "In perhaps just a matter of days, your alternate self and I are both going to completely _cease to exist_. Or to put it rather bluntly, we are both going to _die_."

            "You're _what_?" Danny took a step backward in surprise at the revelation.

            "Which is why I'm requesting your assistance." Plasmius continued. "The only plausible solution that I can see if I don't wish to end up dead and obliterated is that he and I must be fused back together. Now, I'm sure even your juvenile mind can see what the problem is."

            Danny outright gawked at the pale ghost and what Plasmius was suggesting. "Are you _insane_?"

            "I'll decline comment on that." Plasmius continued dryly. "The problem is that _I_ don't care to go back to that madness. With things as they are, fusing together is not going to solve _anyone's_ problems, certainly not yours, Daniel. Which is why I need _your_ help to deal with your other self in such a way that perhaps the fusion _won't_ be a destructive madman."

            "Why should I help you?" Danny growled, clearly not liking the idea at all. "Maybe I think it's better if you two both just disappear? I barely beat him... you... WHATEVER the _last_ time!"

            "Do you honestly think I _enjoy_ the circumstances of this situation, Daniel?" Plasmius retorted, the older ghost's tone laden heavily with a most thoroughly bitter anger. "I may be a villain and your rival, but I **never** wanted _any_ of this!"

            "Then why'd it happen, huh?" Danny demanded. "I saw what you two did. Vlad himself _told_ me what happened!"

            Plasmius opened his mouth to respond, but paused, massaging his temples briefly and forcing himself to relax. "So that's it then? You're not going to help resolve this?"

            "Yeah, pretty much." Danny crossed his arms and shot Plasmius a dirty look.

            "I suppose it **is** only to be _expected_." Plasmius turned away and shrugged as if defeated.

            Danny was mildly surprised that Plasmius seemed willing to let the matter go without more of a fight. His expression registered confusion when the man started muttering to himself. The tall ghost's tone clearly indicated that Danny was supposed to overhear it.

            "After all; in the future, your ghost self **killed** your human self. Why shouldn't the _reverse_ be true in this new future you've created?"

            Danny's expression shifted to surprise and then anger at what Plasmius was insinuating.

            "Wait, what? I am **nothing** like _him_! Nothing!"

            "Are you now?" Plasmius sneered, turning back to face the agitated teen. "Your inaction is going to _kill_ your alternate timeline ghost self, you realize. Whether directly or indirectly, his death _will_ be on **your** head, Daniel."

            The worst part was that he was right.


	8. Old Scars

**Old Scars**  
"Forgive me, for I don't know what I gain  
Alone in this garden of pain  
Enchantment has but one truth:  
I weep to have what I fear to lose"  
**-"Gethsemane" - Nightwish**

            It was one thing to claim that talking to an unstable ghost was a good idea. It was another entirely to actually approach said unstable ghost to do it. Plus there was no telling what Plasmius wanted to talk to Danny about around the corner.

 _I can do this. I want to major in psychology, after all!_ Jazz forced herself to ignore her own misgivings about the situation. She _was_ right, she had to be! Jasmine Fenton was _never_ wrong, after all! The redhead carefully approached Phantom, the ghost so far unresponsive to her presence. He was muttering to himself, a broken train of half-sentences and garbled whimpers.

            Aware that Sam and Tucker were both watching her intently, Jazz knelt next to the ghost, surveying him at close range. It was profoundly creepy; physically speaking, Phantom looked like a grown up version of her little brother: if he was standing upright, Jazz would probably have barely been eye level with him. Phantom was twenty-four years old, but Jazz couldn't help but think of him as far younger than Danny. He just seemed so vulnerable, his apparent inability to function on any rational level lent a childlike ambience to the pale-haired boy- no, he was a grown man, no longer a child.

            _And forced to grow up all alone, if what Danny told me is accurate._ Jazz frowned. There would be no helping it; Phantom didn't seem to even be aware that she was there: she would have to speak first. The redhead wanted to give him a reassuring hug or pat on the shoulder, but refrained from doing so. Phantom would likely panic at physical contact in his current irrational state, and she didn't want to provoke him. Calming him down was the first priority.

            _How should I even address him?_ Jazz mused as she tried to think of how to start things off. No one knew how the older ghost even identified himself. From what Sam and Tucker had explained of that confrontation in front of FentonWorks a week ago, Sam had managed to stall the fused version just by calling him Danny. It wasn't much of a lead, but anything was better than nothing.

            "Danny?" She finally inquired, though the name came out as more of a squeak than the confident tone she had been aiming for.

            Phantom reacted to the sound, curling up tighter where he lay. "No, they're all _dead_ , it's my fault-"

            Jazz frowned, listening to the mumbled denial. Clearly this was above and beyond a mild case of the disorder; this was part PTSD, and part simple, absolute catatonic hysteria. What _had_ this ghost from the future done? From what she'd been told, the total destruction of Amity Park and easily half of the Ghost Zone were all the doing of this warped future ghost. Danny had gotten really quiet whenever he tried to describe what he had seen in that future; whatever had happened to Phantom also troubled her little brother.

            "Hey, listen to me!" Jazz was surprised to find herself starting to get mildly annoyed the same way she did when her brother (or her parents) didn't listen to her sound advice.

            "I don't think it's working, Jazz." Sam helpfully pointed out as she walked over to join the redhead.

            "Yeah. He's not listening." Tucker agreed, peering down at the ghost. "Heck, I don't think he's even _hearing_ us."

            "Like he's off in his own world." Sam frowned. Clearly the goth was just as unsettled by Phantom's behavior as Jazz was.

            Jazz pondered on the situation. Something had to be done to snap Phantom out of his shocked state before they could even try to calm him down. Apparently seeing Danny had made Phantom pay attention to the here and now before, but that wasn't a viable option. For one, the half-ghost was occupied elsewhere. For another, seeing Danny had made the ghost panic even more, which was just flat out counterproductive to calming him down. From what the redhead could make out of Phantom's mumbling, it sounded like he was recounting events, probably flashbacks to his original trauma or any one of the horrible things he must have done after it. _He needs a metaphoric kick in the pants to pay attention to the present._ Jazz mused. _Or maybe a not-so-metaphoric smack upside the head._

            It was a gamble. A light slap upside the head might snap Phantom back to the present. It could make the ghost panic and flee again, like he had a week ago. Worst case scenario was that he would lash out with violence. Jazz personally thought that last scenario wasn't very likely, given how the ghost had spazzed and fled when confronted with the past before. She was more worried that he might run away before she could try and get through to him, but there wasn't much choice; mere words were not yet able to get through to him.

            "Danny, snap out of it!" The redhead commanded as she hauled off and gave the ghost a firm thwack across the exposed back of his head.

            It wasn't a very hard slap, barely enough to sting a normal person, let alone a ghost. The effect was tremendous however; Phantom yelped almost as if burned and jumped. He tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his back, staring dazedly at the blue sky overheard.

            "Wha-?" He gaped, slowly pulling himself to an upright sitting position.

            "Welcome back to the present." Jazz stated dryly.

            "Jazz-!" The ghost yelped, tensing as if to scramble away, green eyes wide in near-panic.

            "Yes, Jazz." She confirmed, keeping her tone firm but not hostile. "Stay put."

            "But-but-" Phantom stammered, voice a nearly inaudible squeak. "You- and them- and-the... the explosion and-!"

            "Calm _down_!" Jazz knelt down again so she was eye level with the nearly hysterical ghost. "We're all perfectly fine, there _wasn't_ any explosion, okay?"

            "But I-"

            "You weren't exactly yourself at the time." Sam interjected over the ghost's babble.

            "You don't get it!" Phantom accused, pointing wildly at the teens. "It's not- I mean..."

            Jazz waited patiently to let him try and finish whatever he was trying to explain, motioning to Sam to wait as well. Things could have gone better, but at least they hadn't gone _badly_. Phantom wasn't bolting in terror like he had a week ago, which was certainly progress. He was actually _addressing_ them instead of babbling _about_ them in panic.

            "Go on." Jazz prompted Phantom as he continued to stumble over his words.

            "All that... Valerie, Amity Park..." Phantom squeaked out, expression going distant and at the same time horrified, voice full of loathing. "I.... I **wanted** _that_! I **wanted** to destroy it all!"

            Jazz exchanged baffled looks with Sam and Tucker as Phantom choked on a sob, burying his face in his hands at the admission. There was definitely some merit to the redhead's post-traumatic stress disorder theory. That the ghost seemed to be disgusted with his actions was a good sign; the prognosis on any patient with a psychological disorder was significantly better if they understood and felt that the results of the disorder were wrong.

            "Okay." Jazz kept her voice calm and level, recalling what she'd learned from all her psychology studies. "Can you tell us _why_ you wanted to destroy it all?"

            Phantom paused, staring at the redhead oddly, the expression eerily reminiscent of Danny's most stupefied "Huh?" face. It was understandable; most of the time when someone says they wanted to kill a bunch of people, the reaction isn't "Why?", it's expected to be disgust or abject horror. Jazz's calm demeanor clearly had the ghost at something of a loss.

            "Why?" He squeaked out, peering at Jazz and lowering his hands.

            "That's right." Jazz confirmed. "You had a reason, right? What was it?"

            Sam and Tucker exchanged looks of mild worry. They'd assumed that all the destruction had been due to Vlad's "evil" ghost half. To hear that Phantom himself had wanted it as well was worrying to say the least. What did this say about _their_ Danny?

            "I..." Phantom stared, frowning. "After that... and... Valerie, her reaction... and then... _that_..."

            _Well, at least he's talking. That's definitely an improvement._ Jazz shifted slightly so she'd be a little more comfortable.

            "Maybe telling us what happened with Valerie would be a good place to start?" Sam inquired, finally taking a seat next to Phantom so that she was facing the ghost.

            Phantom startled slightly at the goth's proximity, and a second time when Tucker plopped down next to Jazz. He stared at both with wide green eyes for a long moment before he averted his gaze, staring at the ground and fiddling with the toe of one boot.

            "It's... nothing." He stated lamely.

            "Dude, you were totally bent on trying to _kill_ her!" Tucker protested. Jazz shot the techno-geek a dirty look, but the damage was done.

            "I had a _reason_!" Phantom snarled as he quickly clenched a fist, expression hardening into an intense green glare that could nearly have bored holes in the asphalt.

            Tucker nearly jumped at the rapid change in the ghost's demeanor. Sam flinched but forced herself to remain where she was. If she was reading Jazz's intentions right, showing fear or revulsion wasn't going to make the situation better. Sam wouldn't admit to it, but Jazz was probably the only one who had any control over the situation.

            "Danny." Jazz stated in that same calm tone she'd kept to since the conversation began.

            Phantom startled at the name, head jerking up to gawk at Jazz again with a confused expression. Clearly the name thing was a powerful tool in the redhead's arsenal; just addressing the ghost with it was enough to spook him out of his anger.

            "Easy, he didn't mean anything about it." Sam tried to keep her own tone level, but that sudden swing in Phantom's mood had rattled her nerves slightly. Calmed down a little or not, he _was_ still an unpredictable and extremely dangerous ghost. They were playing with fire here; it would have been much simpler to just stuff Phantom into the thermos than to take an uncertain gamble on Jazz playing at psychology.

            "Uh, yeah." Tucker squeaked, straightening his beret nervously. "Is it okay to ask what that reason was?"

            "I don't want to talk about it." Phantom clamped his eyes shut against some memory, clenching both fists slightly.

            Tucker looked ready to press the issue, but stern looks from Sam and from Jazz made him reconsider and remain silent. Getting a patient to open up wasn't something that could be forced, and while Jazz felt that she was making definite progress with Phantom, she didn't want to push him much. Pressing the issue would only make the ghost clam up further, or even run away from the source of the pressure. He would talk when he was ready.

            "That's okay, you don't have to if you don't want to." Jazz seized the conversation again. "In fact, why don't we go somewhere for a bit? You look pretty ragged."

            "Go... somewhere?" Phantom looked up again, expression confused.

            His confusion was mirrored by Sam and Tucker. What was Jazz thinking, where could they possibly take the ghost? He'd stand out, and not in a good way. Things would go badly quickly if Valerie saw them. Taking Phantom to FentonWorks didn't seem like a viable option either: Jack and Maddie would freak out if they saw the ghost, and given Phantom's mental condition, there was no telling how _he_ would react to seeing _them_.

            "That's right." Jazz nodded, apparently struck with inspiration. "Can you still transform?"

            "Transform?" Phantom squeaked.

            "That's right!" Sam's eyes widened. "You could before, right? That was you that afternoon before the C.A.T.!"

            Phantom cringed at the reminder. He hadn't even considered that option. In his fused state, he _had_ been able to transform despite technically being completely a ghost without a shred of humanity left to him. Well, transform wasn't exactly the right word, it had been more like a poorly-fitting disguise. Still, it had gotten the job done well enough when the ghost had been trying to ensure that his past didn't change.

            "If we go anywhere, what about Danny?" Tucker glanced at Jazz, then at Phantom. "Ur... other Danny. Younger Danny. Yeah."

            Jazz considered that. There was no telling what Plasmius wanted to talk to Danny about, but the older ghost hadn't seemed terribly hostile. "He's got his phone, right?"

            "Well... yeah." Sam admitted.

            "Then he can call us, or we can call him." Jazz nodded sagely, before turning to address Phantom again. "So, will you at least try?"

            The ghost stared at Jazz with wide, scared eyes. Phantom was at a loss for what to do with himself. Split from Plasmius, the full impact of his actions had all come crashing down at once. Every single enemy he'd defeated, every single person he had killed, every face frozen in terror: the terror that _he_ had brought on them all. The feeling of Valerie's ribs snapping when he first tried to kill her ten years ago after he returned from Wisconsin. Ten years of trying to destroy everything that had reminded him of that terrible day when the Nasty Burger exploded. He was equally horrified by his actions of the past decade and disgusted with himself. He _had_ wanted that, it had been _his_ desire to blot out the painful memories that led to that destruction. All Plasmius had contributed was suppressing his conscience to the point that he had felt justified in his actions, that killing people and destroying everything was _right_.

            _This isn't right!_ Phantom wailed to himself. After what he'd done, the redhead should have been running in fear, or at least showing disgust , or horror.

            _"You're... you're not Danny!  That's why the boomerang wasn't homing in on your ecto-signature. You're **not** Danny!"_

 _The remark stung, coming from the mouth of a girl who was ten years dead to him. Even more so after having learned that she'd known about his secret identity all those years ago. That she'd been_ proud _of his achievements when she was still alive._

 _"I **was**. But I grew out of it. The Danny _ you _know is floating helplessly in the Ghost Zone_ ten years _in the future."_

            Why wasn't she running away from him? Or hating him for what he was responsible for? She shouldn't have been sitting there with such a concerned look on her face, like she was simply meddling in her baby brother's business! After everything he'd done... after being responsible for her death ten years ago, he had no right to even consider the redhead his sister. Not after the horrible things he'd done!

            "Why are you trying to help me?" He finally squeaked out warily.

            "Why do you think?" Jazz retorted. "Family sticks together."

            "But I did all-"

            "I know." Jazz interrupted the ghost. "But temporally displaced or not, you're _still_ my baby brother. And I meant it when I said I was proud of you the night before the C.A.T."

            Phantom stopped short again, staring at Jazz with an expression of mixed shock, disgust, and something else that the three teens couldn't quite place. Apparently the redhead managed to hit something on the mark. He glanced at Sam and at Tucker with a searching look.

            "Yeah." Sam took a shot at filling the awkward silence. "You had no way to know about the explosion, right?"

            "Really, dude." Tucker agreed, though the look on his face suggested the conversation had him sufficiently weirded out. "And it turned out okay in the end. The Nasty Burger blew up, but nobody got killed."

            "But I was trying to-" Phantom paused on the admission, cringing visibly. "I was... what was I _doing_? I tried to _kill_ everyone!"

            "But you _didn't._ " Jass reiterated.

            "Only because _he_ stopped me!" Phantom protested. "If he... or I? Other me? I don't know!"

            "Danny, calm down!" Sam snapped, cutting the ghost off from going into another panic.

            "How do you know you would have gone through with it?" Jazz pointed out. "You had every opportunity to kill me the night before the C.A.T. when I confronted you about the test answers. _But you didn't._ "

            "And that was before you even got hit with the Ghostcatcher." Tucker pointed out.

            "Where do you want to take me?" Phantom abruptly switched back to the earlier topic of conversation, apparently not wanting to talk about the split.

            "Well, that depends mostly on whether or not you can still transform." Jazz switched gears easily, her growing confidence in the situation clear in her voice. "If you can, maybe the mall for some lunch?"

            "What if he can't?" Sam glanced at the redhead, frowning. Phantom absently nodded agreement.

            "If not..." Jazz frowned in thought, sizing Phantom up. "Well, you're skinny enough that some of my stuff might fit."

            "Ew!" Phantom recoiled, glancing at Jazz's snug black t-shirt and slacks. "I am not wearing that!"

            "I'm not talking about this!" Jazz tugged on her sleeve for emphasis. "I've got some loose t-shirts and stuff, too!"

            "Maybe we could worry about that once we know if you can transform?" Tucker interjected

            "Yeah, at least try it first." Sam agreed. "If not, _then_ we worry about wardrobe."

            Sam was still wary and had some doubts about the situation, but it did seem that Jazz _was_ making surprising progress with the ghost. Sam wouldn't admit it, but the idea of finding some other way to deal with Danny's alternate future self that _didn't_ involve Danny getting beat to a pulp was a very attractive option. Still, what could be done with the ghost from an alternate timeline? And what about Plasmius? Vlad's alternate future ghost self was obviously up to something, what would the archvillain do?

            "You mean it?" Phantom asked, slowly getting to his feet.

            "Of course we mean it!" Jazz confirmed, also getting on her feet and confirming her earlier assessment: Standing upright she was barely eye level with the ghost.

            "Besides, if you go around looking like that, Valerie might get her nose bent out of shape." Sam stood up, feeling a bit shorter than normal next to Phantom.

            "Valerie..." Phantom cringed, briefly clenching his fists. "I don't want to see her. I don't want to talk to her. If I do, I might-!"

            "You don't have to talk to anyone you don't want to." Jazz gave Phantom a reassuring pat on the shoulder, the ghost flinching slightly at the contact. "I promise."

            Phantom got an unreadable expression on his face at the redhead's promise, and took a couple of steps away from the teens. "Okay... I'll try."

            Nothing happened for several seconds despite the look of intense concentration on Phantom's face. When the white energy rings finally appeared around the ghost's waist, their upward and downward motion was sluggish; the look on Phantom's face indicated it was taking a great deal of effort to force the transformation. It was nothing like how rapidly Danny could switch between forms, the teen half-ghost could change in the blink of an eye.

            After several seconds of effort that left Phantom nearly gasping for breath, the rings vanished and he collapsed to his hands and knees. The black bodysuit was replaced now with tattered jeans, the cuffs frayed, holes worn in the knees; and a grey t-shirt, its red trimming faded almost to brown. Most noticeably strange was that Phantom retained his height, and green eye color, and his hair while now black still had a frosting of white.

            "Well... that's not what I was expecting." Tucker quipped.

            "Are you okay?" Jazz knelt to help Phantom get back up.

            "I guess? Maybe? No? I don't know!" Phantom cringed as he staggered back to his feet with the redhead's help. "It _hurt_."

            "That's not right." Sam frowned, both relieved and concerned that Phantom's "human" appearance wasn't what anyone had been expecting.

            "What hurt, exactly?" Jazz inquired.

            "I dunno." Phantom mumbled. "Everything."

            Sam and Tucker exchanged looks. That didn't sound right at all. Danny had never complained about changing forms ever hurting. Then again, whenever Danny transformed, it was done in a flash; if something hurt in the process, maybe it just never had a chance to register on the half-ghost.

            "Does it still hurt?" Jazz pressed as she started for where her car was parked nearby.

            Phantom paused before shakily following the redhead. "No... not now. Well, maybe a little... a headache?"

            "So, Jazz, where _are_ we going?" Sam raised an eyebrow as the group congregated near the car.

            "The mall is fine." Phantom stated quietly. "She said we could go there."

            Another awkward silence fell as the group climbed into the car. Sam grabbed her phone and dialed Danny as Jazz started the vehicle and pulled out of the school parking lot.

            "Hey, Danny, you're still talking with Vlad?" Sam asked after a moment, then pausing as she listened to the reply. "Whoa, whoa, wait. He said _what_? They...-"

            The goth paused, glancing at the front passenger seat where Phantom was seated, then at Tucker next to her in the back.

            "Um, no. Nothing's wrong here. No, actually. He's calmed down now. Yeah, I know what the plan was at first. Don't worry. We've got things under control. Yeah, Jazz did." Sam paused again, Danny's reply over the phone was a bit lengthy. "No, don't worry. We're heading toward the mall. Right. Don't _worry_ , Danny! If anything happens we'll call. Right. Talk to you later."

            "Did he say what the fruit loop wanted?" Tucker asked as Sam flipped her phone shut.

            "Oh, they're still talking." Sam gave Tucker a pointed look.

            "I don't like him." Phantom clamped his eyes shut up front. "He was... so calm. About everything."

            "Calm?" Jazz glanced over. "Do you want to talk about it?"

            Sam flipped her phone back open and started punching buttons. A moment later, Tucker's PDA beeped, signaling a text message. The techno-geek shot Sam a baffled look and fished the device from his pocket.

            :Don't say anything. Vlad wants Danny's help. If they don't fuse back, they're both going to die.:

            Tucker's eyes went wide as he read the message, mouth hanging open about to speak when a stern look from Sam made him shut his mouth. Glancing briefly at the front of the car, he started punching away on the PDA.

            "After the explosion. And..." Phantom spoke haltingly. "... And after Valerie-"

            Sam looked at her phone, reading Tucker's reply.

            :They're both ghosts! Does that mean they'll both vanish?:

            "Go on." Jazz coaxed, though she wanted to ask what precisely it was Valerie had done that had such a lasting effect on the ghost.

            "At the castle. We were there... it was morning, during breakfast. He suggested the operation." Phantom stared down and his hands. "He was so calm. Like talking about the weather, not about ripping me in half."

            :I guess so. Danny sounded upset on the phone. I think they're arguing about it.: Sam glanced up from her phone at the ghost in the front seat.

            "Did he force you into it?" Jazz asked, sparing Phantom a longer glance since the car was at a red light.

            "N-no. He didn't." Phantom frowned. "I... agreed. But then it went wrong! The operation... I was so angry, and it hurt and he was there and so calm and..."

            "Why were you angry?" Jazz picked up the slack when the ghost trailed off into silence again.

            :So unless future-Danny and future-Vlad fuse back into that guy again, all of this is for nothing? Should we TELL him?: Tucker's expression indicated the shock that the text message couldn't convey. Sam shook her head once and started typing a reply.

            "I... dunno." Phantom admitted. "I was so mad. It was all my fault that you guys all- if I hadn't cheated on that test, then none of it would have-!"

            "So you were mad at yourself, and took it out on him?" Jazz asked. "What happened?"

            "It went wrong." Phantom repeated. "I... like you said. I took it out on him, ripped him in half."

            :How do you think he'd react to hearing that right now?: Sam's text message replied, though it was evident she was listening intently to the conversation in the front seat.

            "Dude, that is pretty creepy." Tucker chipped in from the back seat.

            "I don't know what I was thinking." Phantom whimpered, hands clutching tightly at the hem of his shirt. "I was so mad, and then... then _it_ happened."

            "'It?'" Sam asked, frowning. It was one thing to be told that the two ghost-halves had been fused. It was disturbing to actually hear the sordid details of the matter.

            "When he and I... that's... it hurt." Phantom's explanation got more disjointed as he continued. "Then other me was awake and..."

            "Other me?" Jazz raised an eyebrow at the description.

            "My... human self." Phantom haltingly clarified. "Both of them. They were arguing... or panicking? Then I... I was so mad, and he was so weak, and I... I blamed him, it was his fault we couldn't save anybody. I had do... to do _something_... I was so mad that if I didn't... I thought I would explode from it... I was just... I wanted to forget."

            Awkward silence fell over the car at the indirect admission. All Danny had explained was that Vlad in that alternate future wouldn't tell the half-ghost what had become of his alternate future human half. Phantom's halting explanation made it pretty clear that Danny Fenton had faced a horrible fate in that dark future, the first murder in the fused ghost's ten year reign of madness.

            :That is just creepy. No wonder he's all messed up.: Sam's phone beeped to let her know she had another message.

            "So you wanted to forget everything, then?" Jazz brought the car to a halt in an uncrowded back parking lot of the mall. "So to try and block out those memories, you tried to destroy it?"

            Phantom nodded once, eyes shut against the memory, barely choking out a horrified confirmation. "I destroyed everything else that mattered. So... I thought... well... that was all I was good for."

            "Even if you blamed yourself, what about all the times you _did_ save people?" Jazz asked as she shut the car off. "You saved me from Spectra, remember. And the entire city from the ghost king."

            "But I still... I screwed up." The ghost protested as the group climbed out of the car. "I couldn't help anyone when it mat-"

            Phantom stopped and froze with a gasp, green eyes darting left and right, searching in a panic. His sudden silence and tension did not go unnoticed.

            Jazz glanced at the ghost. "Is something wrong?"

            "No." Phantom shook his head, trying to make himself relax. "Yes? Maybe? I-"

            The jittery ghost was interrupted by a voice from above.

            "Well, I _was_ looking for Daniel, but perhaps the four of _you_ can tell me what I want to know."


	9. Confrontation

**Confrontation**  
"To end all the innocence  
To be someone like me  
This is the birth of all hope  
To have what I once had"  
_-"End of All Hope" - Nightwish_

            Vlad touched down a few feet from the group, a fanged scowl on his face. It took a moment for the others to recognize the ghost for the present day version and not the far more haggard future one. He looked impressively livid as he looked over the teens, his red-eyed gaze skipping over the almost-panicky Phantom. That was a good thing at least, it seemed Vlad didn't realize that the ghost was anybody of importance. Perhaps he mistakenly thought that the tall, slender ghost was some friend of Jazz.

            "What do you want with Danny?" Sam snapped, putting a bold face on her surprise.

            She and Tucker thankfully had seldom dealt with the billionaire, and those few times they did, Danny was there. The situation was extremely unpredictable with Danny elsewhere talking to Plasmius, and an unstable Phantom present. What on Earth was Vlad Masters doing there anyway? Did he know about Phantom and the rampage in the city a week ago? Sam cast a worried glance at Phantom, the slender ghost's eyes darting left and right, thin frame tensed to flee. Jazz had been doing so well with the spook, and it seemed likely that Vlad's untimely arrival had just thrown all that progress clean out the window. Considering what Phantom had to say about Vlad, there was really no telling how the situation was going to go.

            "Simple enough, girl." Vlad retorted. "I want to find out why precisely Daniel saw fit to destroy my castle. And _what_ precisely is going _on_."

            A quick glance at Phantom confirmed where Vlad must have gotten that idea from. The ghost cringed at the mention of the castle's destruction, that was probably what had the billionaire rather cheesed off.

            "What if we told you Danny hasn't been out of Amity Park for weeks?" Jazz bit out. "So you're barking up the wrong tree, fruit loop."

            "Yeah, what makes you think it was Danny, anyway? Don't you have any _other_ rivals to worry about?" Tucker quirked an eyebrow.

            "I know what I saw." Vlad growled, clearly not in the mood to play nice. "Unless the four of you can think of some _other_ ghost with that ridiculous D-P emblem."

            "It's not ridiculous-!" Sam protested.

            "Right." Jazz cut the goth off dryly. "And living alone in some creepy old castle, _of course_ you'd _never_ imagine things to break up the monotony of _solitary living_."

            Apparently the redhead's worded barb struck a nerve, if the intense glare Vlad turned on Jazz was any indication.

            "Need I remind you, Jasmine, that you are _not_ in a position to try anything right now?" Vlad hissed. "I'm certain Daniel would be a great deal more cooperative in explaining what I want to know with you three involved."

            "Are you _threatening_ us?" Sam quirked an eyebrow. From her limited experience in dealing with Vlad, such bold moves weren't typical of the billionaire.

            Vlad smirked at the goth's indignation. With Daniel elsewhere, there was little his young friends or sister could do against the older half-ghost. Even if Jazz had some of her parents' weaponry on hand, such things were of little concern to the billionaire. Now, if Jack was there and armed with anything, the big man would have potentially been a serious threat. But no, Vlad was no fool, he chose his confrontations wisely, when his target was most vulnerable. He'd spotted the group near the school, and had assumed they were on their way somewhere and would lead him right to Daniel. Following them to the mall proved this did not seem to be the case, but it was a simple matter of altering his plan. They would lead him to the answers he wanted, one way or the other.

            "Of course not. I don't make threats." Vlad replied, tone lightly mocking. " I make _promises_."

            "You do _not_ , you lying piece of-" Phantom shrieked suddenly, lunging at the half-ghost.

            "No, wait-!" Sam yelped, too late to grab the agitated ghost or do anything to stop him.

            The attack was clumsy and borne clearly of anger. So it wasn't well planned, and Vlad easily batted the ghost aside. Phantom hit the ground with an angry cry as he tumbled to a halt. He hadn't been hit by anything terribly hard given what Vlad was probably capable of, but the blow had been enough to stun the ghost. Apparently the billionaire had unknowingly chosen poorly in his witty banter, given how Phantom seemed to have a fixation with the entire promise concept.

            "Leave him alone!" Jazz ran in between Vlad and Phantom, casting worried glances over her shoulder at the ghost. "He's got nothing to do with this."

            Vlad raised an eyebrow at the declaration. "He seems to think otherwise."

            A second glance showed Phantom already clawing his way back to his feet, glaring green daggers at the billionaire. The amount of hate in that glare was unsettlingly reminiscent of the fused version's usual expression, making Jazz shiver involuntarily. Was it that much hate for the archvillain himself, or self-loathing for the past decade being focused on the man? Regardless, the group was not in a good position, and there was still a slight chance that the situation could be diffused without a fight. Vlad wasn't one for bold, blunt maneuvers; clearly all he was after was information because apparently Phantom and Plasmius had blown the man's castle to bits. The question was whether or not the group could give him an answer that would satisfy the billionaire without giving away anything important.

            "What makes you think Danny knows anything about what's going on?" Sam challenged, slipping past Jazz to try and reign Phantom in before he could decide to attack Vlad a second time.

            "Okay, look, there was _one_ other ghost." Jazz sighed, putting just a touch of defeated slump into her posture. "From some sort of alternate reality in the Ghost Zone. If it was him though, none of us would know where he is or what he's up to."

            "Danny!" Sam hissed in a low whisper to Phantom as she grabbed his arm. "Don't fight him, you'll just get hurt."

            Phantom startled slightly at the contact and name, gawking at Sam in confusion. "But he-"

            "I know." Sam interrupted. "Just trust me, you're _not_ in any shape to fight him. You had trouble with this timeline's Danny, right? If you had trouble with him, what makes you think you stand a chance against Vlad?"

            Something in the goth's tone made Phantom pause and slowly unclench his fists. That wasn't just concern in her voice, no. Phantom raised an eyebrow when he realized just what it was in her voice. Fear. Something had Sam... _Sam_ of all people, frightened. Not for her own safety. She was afraid for _him_.

            "Hm... I would like to trust that you are telling me the truth, but I just can't quite bring myself to." Vlad sneered at Jazz. "After all, I can't simply forget what happened the _last_ time I trusted you, now can I?"

            _I guess he's still bitter about the battle suit._ Jazz cringed. "None of us know anything more than I just told you, fruit loop."

            "Really.... call it just a hunch, but I somehow suspect Daniel will have more useful information on the subject." Vlad floated forward, looking down at Jazz.

            "No, he doesn't." Jazz stood her ground, forcing herself to match Vlad's creepy red stare with defiance.

            Sam kept a firm grip on Phantom's arm as the situation continued to play out. The ghost was quivering, though from fear, panic, or rage she couldn't tell. From the look on his face, it was clear he was tense and wanted to attack Vlad. Sam didn't want to break the news to him that he was on borrowed time, and it seemed to the goth that getting into a fight would only shorten what little time the ghost still had left.

            "Then why don't we go and find out?" Vlad hissed, his minimal reserve of patience clearly running out as he caught a fistful of Jazz's shirt, hefting the redhead so they were face-to-face.

            "Put me down!" Jazz yelped, trying to pry the billionaire's hand open.

            Something snapped. Sam saw it in that split second that exists between hesitation and action, the shift in Phantom's expression. Whether it was that much hate for Vlad, or that much fear for Jazz's safety, or perhaps both; Sam knew that the situation had just gone completely out of control even before the ghost's arm passed intangible through her grip. Still in human guise, the ghost circled around to the side before he launched himself at Vlad a second time.

            "Leave my sister alone!" Phantom bellowed as he slammed into Vlad, sending the billionaire tumbling.

            Phantom tumbled briefly as well from the impact, though he did land on his feet, crouched and glaring at Vlad. The billionaire snarled something unintelligible and got back up, glowering at the unexpected intrusion. Jazz was still sitting where she'd fallen, a stunned look on her face as the two ghosts regarded one another warily. Phantom had yet to transform, but everything in his stance indicated he wasn't going to be restrained from attacking the archvillain a second time.

            "Your _sister_?" Vlad studied Phantom warily, red eyes widening slightly. "Who _are_ you?"

            Phantom straightened slightly as he considered his reply. "Maybe I... should just _show_ you."

            "Wait! If you-" Tucker yelped, the protest a moment too late.

            Phantom cried out when the energy rings flashed into being, transforming the ghost back to his real form with disconcerting speed. Compared to how much effort it had taken him to take on a human appearance, it was evident that only sheer willpower kept Phantom on his feet through the transformation. It did stop Vlad in his tracks from sheer surprise, the billionaire clearly not having expected some 20-something kid to suddenly turn into a familiar-looking ghost.

            "You-!" Vlad pointed accusingly at Phantom in surprise, a nearly uncharacteristic display for the billionaire. "It was _you_!"

            Phantom nodded once, still panting from the effort it had taken just to transform. It seemed as if perhaps the billionaire's untimely arrival had provided some sort of outlet for whatever intense emotions were plaguing the guilt-addled ghost. Whether or not he could hold up through a fight was a complete unknown, especially against Vlad.

            "Yeah... it was me." Phantom gasped between breaths, crouching slightly. "Even if that's... only half of it."

            Vlad ignored Phantom for a moment, turning to sneer in Jazz's direction. "You don't know where he is, do you?"

            Jazz chuckled nervously. "Uh... whoops?"

            "I don't know who precisely you are or why you see fit to mimic myself and now Daniel-" Vlad scowled at Phantom again. "-But most all ghosts have learned you do _not_ cross me."

            "Yeah, so?" Phantom growled. "I won't let you hurt anyone... not after everything that I-....Just go away!"

            Sam slapped her forehead while Tucker helped Jazz back up. The trio of teens unobtrusively moved to put some distance between them and the two ghosts. All the psychology know-how in the world wouldn't do any good in predicting how the situation was going to play out. If the situation turned violent as it seemed primed to do, it would be better that they were out of the line of fire.

            "We've got to call Danny." Sam declared in a low voice, casting worried glances at the standoff.

            "Yeah, he doesn't stand a chance if he's gonna..." Tucker glanced at the standoff, then at Jazz's confused expression.

            "What did Danny tell you on the phone, Sam?" Jazz shot the goth a stern look.

            Sam frowned. She and Tucker hadn't meant to keep the news from Jazz, but there simply hadn't been a good opportunity to tell the redhead in between the car trip and Vlad showing up. It seemed now was as good a time as any.

            "Apparently, Plasmius told Danny that unless they-" Sam's tone left no doubt who "they" were. "Unless they fuse back into _him_ , they're both going to disappear. Forever."

            "They're **what**?" Jazz's eyes widened at the news, casting a frantic glance at the standoff twenty feet away that seemed poised on the very brink of battle.

            "And he wants Danny to help him find some way to do it that doesn't involve going back to that psycho kill-everything business." Sam frowned.

            "I think that's gonna take a back seat to dealing with _present_ Vlad." Tucker pointed out.

            Phantom yelled something and lunged at Vlad a third time. The billionaire was ready for the attack though, forming a pink shield that the 20-something ghost slammed into face-first, stunning him momentarily. Vlad was no fool to waste time on witty banter, and instead capitalized on the opportunity to land a punch to Phantom's midsection that sent the ghost careening into a parked car nearby with enough force to dislodge the vehicle's door.

            "I didn't come here looking for a fight, you realize." Vlad growled, stalking toward the fallen ghost. "But if you absolutely _insist_ , I can't think of a single good reason not to oblige."

            Phantom clawed his way upright and snarled wordlessly at Vlad's approach, green eyes burning nearly yellow from the intensity of his anger. It was relatively apparent to those watching that Vlad's untimely arrival had brought an intense mood swing to the unstable Phantom, the ghost's clear hatred for the man an echo of the ruthless killer that Danny had barely managed to defeat before. While Jazz had achieved surprising success with her attempt to use psychology to tame Phantom, it remained evident that the ghost was mentally unstable. Doomed or not, the ghost _was_ still a danger to himself and those around him. Assuming that Vlad didn't beat Phantom into the dirt first.

            "Oblige _this_!" Phantom hissed, flinging a green ecto-blast at Vlad.

            The abruptness of the attack caught the billionaire by surprise, sending him head-over-feet into the side rail of the parking complex. He recovered rapidly, springing nimbly into the air just in time to avoid the flying kick Phantom had aimed at the tall half-ghost's face.

            Somewhere in the back of Phantom's mind, he was aware that trying to fight in his condition was a bad idea. Every use of his power sent bursts of pain coursing through his body, but the only outward sign he gave of the discomfort were slight twitches and cringes. He _knew_ trying to fight Vlad wasn't a good idea. But the sight of the man, the thought that the archvillain was threatening these people he found himself caring so intensely for was a thought he simply couldn't bear. The idea of the three teens coming to harm hurt worse than any physical pain, and the ghost refused to let that mental image come to pass. Not after the terrible things he blamed himself for, that they had been so willing to forgive.

            If he ended up killed in the process... well, his life was the very least that he owed everyone for everything he'd done.

\---

            "Do you honestly think there's _any_ way to fix things so that... if you two... you know what I mean!" Danny gestured accusingly at Plasmius with his phone.

            "Well clearly _I'm_ not the problem in this equation." Plasmius countered, arms crossed. His little guilt trip had worked almost exactly as desired, coercing Daniel to cooperate, however grudgingly, lest the boy be anything like his alternate timeline self.

            "I know. I _know_!" Danny growled. That the fused ghost from the future was so messed up largely because of _his_ half of the equation didn't sit well with the half-ghost. "And apparently Jazz is trying to play headshrinker with _him_."

"You realize that may be just what it takes to stabilize your alternate self?" Plasmius quirked an eyebrow, ignoring the now-steady ache of his own deterioration.

            "I still don't like it." Danny groused. "What if it doesn't help and you two still end up all nuts?"

            Plasmius frowned. The tall ghost had no answer that would satisfy the hot-tempered teen, and they both knew it. Their options were limited, and neither one was particularly savory. On the one hand, it would likely be less of a headache for Daniel to simply let the split ghost halves fade to oblivion. The idea of those deaths hanging over his head was an undesirable consequence, but the alternative solution was not much better. Taking an uncertain gamble on fusing the split halves back together was no more attractive an option; the odds were far from favorable that any sort of change could be brought about, and the consequences if the gamble failed were far worse than either Daniel or Plasmius liked to consider. It might have been possible to find some less drastic way to save the split halves, but there simply wasn't the time nor the resources available to find it.

            Plasmius might not have shown the same hysteria about the past decade that Phantom did, a fact attributed almost entirely to the fact that the pale ghost had been mentally stable at the time of fusion, that he was older and better able to cope with trauma; but he was still utterly appalled by the acts he'd helped commit. Oblivion was very nearly tempting in the face of that terrible knowledge; yet the will to survive, to persist in one form or another was still stronger. Regardless of what Phantom might have wanted, Plasmius was no suicidal fool. If Daniel had been able to effect such a great change as to prevent that future from ever happening, there was no way to know just what might be done to atone for the decade of slaughter.

            Further argument about the situation was interrupted by the obnoxiously loud noise of Danny's phone. Both glanced at the device for a moment before Danny flipped the phone open, checked the number, and hurriedly answered.

            "Sam? What's-" Danny froze, green eyes going wide. "That's what that noise is in the background-? He's _what_?"

            Plasmius waited, a frown on his face only getting deeper as Danny's expression got increasingly worried. The only reason for the girl to call that would have the young half ghost so intent was a bad one. Something had to have gone wrong involving Phantom. From the look on Daniel's face, something hadn't simply gone wrong, it had gone seriously wrong.

            "I'm on my way. Just... take cover!" Danny flipped the phone shut, almost darting into the air before he paused, remembering that Plasmius was still there.

            "Let me guess." Plasmius raised an eyebrow. "Something's gone wrong involving your alternate self and your sister and two friends."

            " _Your_ alternate self showed up and _mine_ is trying to fight him!" Danny snapped.

            Were the circumstances different, the way the ghost's red eyes went wide almost in panic would have been comical. It made sense that Plasmius would have a great deal of concern for the continued well-being of Phantom; if something dire happened to the traumatized ghost, Plasmius could kiss his own survival good-bye.

            "Cheesecake!" Plasmius yelped, lifting into the air before noticing Danny was gawking at him. "Well? What are you waiting for, a carved invitation?"

            "You're helping me?" Danny hopped into the air so he was eye-level with the ghost, a slightly incredulous look on his face.

            "Well of course you fool." Plasmius bit out. "While it may be your _friends_ in danger, it's my _survival_ that's at stake!"

            Danny couldn't argue with that logic. Besides, maybe having Plasmius along would surprise Vlad just enough to give the half-ghost a much-needed edge against his arch-enemy.

            "Good point." Danny noted as the pair shot off toward the mall.

            _Hang tight guys, I'm coming!_


	10. Time's Up

**Time's Up**  
"I have lost the path before me  
The one behind will lead me"  
_-"Ghost Love Score" - Nightwish_ **  
**

            "If I hadn't already seen your handiwork elsewhere, I don't think I would be quite so surprised by this pathetic display." Vlad taunted as Phantom peeled himself out of a nearby wall.

            To say that the fight wasn't going terribly well would be an understatement. It was evident that Vlad was hardly trying, a fact emphasized by the one hand the billionaire kept tucked neatly behind his back. Jazz had even caught sight of the man yawning once or twice in the brief lulls between Phantom's frenzied attacks. All the intensity in the world couldn't compensate for the fact that since the trip through the Ghostcatcher, the ghost's power had been crippled.

            Phantom spat a curse, idly realizing that the profanity was something he'd overheard Valerie use in that sick future. One of many colorful invectives that _he_ had been the target of. The ghost shivered at the recollection, leaving himself open just long enough for Vlad to strike again, a fist to the head sending Phantom tumbling to the ground and adding a fresh round of bruises to the abuse he'd already taken.

            "Honestly, this is nearly shameful." Vlad scowled as Phantom got back on his feet. "After what-"

            Vlad was cut off by an ecto blast to the face, the attack's abruptness catching the billionaire off guard and knocking him over, though not seriously worse for the wear. Phantom wasted no time before springing at the man, looking for all the world ready to try and throttle the archvillain.

            "You can just go to-!" Phantom snarled, interrupted by Vlad tumbling hurriedly out of the way and catching the ghost in the side with one foot.

            "Go where?" Vlad retorted, using the opportunity to get back on his feet while Phantom was sprawled on the concrete. "Wisconsin?"

            Meanwhile, the three teens could only watch from the dubious safety to be had behind Jazz's car. Sure, Danny was on his way; but from what was seen so far, Vlad Masters was in a spectacularly foul mood. This was no archvillain playing out an elaborate scheme; this was a guy who lost his house and was really cheesed off about it, and with good reason.

            "Man, he's getting pounded." Tucker had to cringe when Phantom was sent sprawling, though the ghost was able to get his feet beneath him to spring into the air, barely dodging a follow-up attack from Vlad.

            "I know, but do _you_ want to try and get in the middle of that?" Sam glanced at her friend, one eyebrow raised as they watched Vlad go sailing by, Phantom in hot pursuit.

            "But if what Danny said is right, by fighting he's just going to shorten how long he has until..." Jazz couldn't finish the statement, wincing at the thought.

            The aspiring psychology expert could hardly stand the idea that she had made such progress with Phantom and in such a short time, only for it to apparently be for nothing. Phantom wouldn't likely agree to going back to that fused existence; despite his progress it seemed he had a nearly reckless disregard for his own survival. If only Vlad hadn't shown up, maybe they could have come up with a better solution to the problem. In the end though, all the "if onlys" in the world wouldn't matter if Phantom got himself destroyed in a deranged attempt on Vlad's life.

            "He might be getting pounded, but look at him." Sam shivered visibly, pointing at the ghost.

            Another look at the battle indicated what made the goth shiver. Phantom was standing, crouched and ready to pounce. That wasn't what was eerie however; it was the look of nothing short of murderous rage on the ghost's face that was. This was nothing like Danny's battles with Vlad, where the teenage half-ghost was merely trying to thwart whatever scheme the man was up to. This was a blatant desire for bloodshed, every move of Phantom's body broadcasting clearly his desire to not simply thwart, but to kill the billionaire. Given how hard Vlad was fighting back, that murderous intent had not gone unnoticed; the half-ghost was rapidly escalating his own actions in response to the threat on his life.

            Phantom cried out when he hit the dirt again, Vlad planting one foot firmly in the ghost's exposed back and pinning him against the asphalt. The billionaire did not look pleased. Indeed, his expression was little better than the ghost's. He had been livid before, but Phantom's stubborn resistance had clearly pushed the half-ghost far beyond merely livid.

            "I don't know why you're putting up such a fight." Vlad scowled at the ghost. "When clearly you are outmatched in nearly every way. If you were smart, you'd simply stay down and tell me what it was I originally came here to find out."

            Phantom didn't respond, visibly seething and trying not to yelp when Vlad dug his foot into the ghost's spine. He was about to retaliate when three sets of footsteps interrupted the fight, and suddenly the pressure on his back was gone.

            "Leave him alone!"

            "Hands off my brother, fruit loop!"

            "Stop hurting him!"

            "Blueberry _muffins_!"

            " _Ow!_ "

            Phantom cringed and got back to his feet, wondering what had just happened. He knew all the voices, but they couldn't possibly have tried to take on Vlad to protect _him_ , could they? He snapped back to alertness when it registered on him that one of the teens had been hurt, if the short cry of pain was any indication. Almost immediately he was tensed to leap at Vlad again, virtually airborne already.

            Until he saw that Vlad held Sam aloft by the arm in one hand, Tucker in the other, and Jazz was struggling to sit back up at the billionaire's feet. He skidded to a halt midair, his scowl matched by Vlad's fanged grin.

            "Ah-ah, I don't think you want to jump back into a fight." Vlad tsked, jostling the younger teens for emphasis. "After all, you don't want **them** to get _hurt_ because of **_your_** carelessness, now would you?"

            "Don't listen to him!" Jazz yelped from where she was on the ground, immediately realizing that Vlad had just managed to push all the wrong buttons. "It wasn't your fault!"

            "You...." Phantom hissed at the billionaire, cringing at a burst of pain coursing through his nervous system. _What is **wrong** with me?_

            The thought was little more than an undercurrent, the ghost's conscious thoughts primarily a torrent of wordless rage directed at Vlad, and a helping of self-loathing aimed squarely at himself. The billionaire's words, though unintentionally so had hit a subject that shook Phantom to his core. That day ten years in his past, the stench of burning Nasty Sauce, the screams cut all-too-suddenly short. All because of him. Because he had to cheat, because Mr. Lancer had found out, because even with his powers, he had been useless, helpless to save the people most dear to him. And just like that time, he was helpless to protect them.

            _No, no I'm not! Jazz said so, all those other times I_ did _help people!_ He mentally cried out, in a panic about what to do. He needed to get them away, somewhere far from that mall and far away from Vlad. Sure, nobody ever bothered parking in the Zears parking lot, but someone was bound to notice the commotion eventually. Which meant it was almost guaranteed that either Valerie or his parents would show up. The ghost was absolutely terrified of the idea of trying to deal with Valerie. None of his memories of the young ghost huntress were pleasant, the recollections evoking nothing but fear, anger, and that murderous hatred that terrified him. The way the huntress had violated his trust in his weakest moments was something that he thought he could never forgive.

            _"Oh please, Valerie, don't hate me for this, please-" His explanation of that day a few months ago when he fooled around with the ghost portal had been disjointed and bordering on incoherent, Valerie didn't yet grasp what he was trying to explain. He was left with one way to make it clear. "I'm going ghost!"_

 _He_ showed _her._

_Were the circumstances different, the expressions vying for control of the girl's face would almost have been funny. He'd occasionally wondered before how Valerie would react upon learning that a guy she kind of liked was the very same ghost she'd been trying to vaporize for weeks. Now he was taking a gamble on her understanding, on the kindness she'd begun to show his human self. With everyone else he cared about reduced to senseless ash on the wind just the day before, he was desperate for a friendly shoulder to lean on, a kind friend to help him bear his burden that had in one explosion become so very heavy._

_" It was **your** fault!" The emotional roulette apparently landed squarely on rage, for he found himself staring down the barrel of Valerie's gun, his classmate replaced with the red-clad vengeful huntress. "YOU did this!"_

_He yelped her name, backing away from the hot-tempered and heavily armed girl. It wasn't supposed to be like this, how could she continue her hatred of all things ghostly after learning the truth of her own friend? How could she bear to level a gun at him, knowing the terrible things he had been through?_

_"You LIED to me, ghost! You ruined my life, you lied to me, you USED me!" Valerie shrieked, her words punctuated by blasts from her weapon._

_"Valerie, you promised-!" He cried out, dodging the hail of firepower directed at him. His words fell on deaf ears however, the huntress was in a complete rage. He would find no help here, from this girl he had mistakenly trusted. He only had one option left._

_He ran, and he never_ stopped _running._

            "Leave them alone, Plasmius." Phantom bit out, straightening slightly as he landed. _I'm not going to run. I **won't**._

            Something in Phantom's tone made the three captive teens exchange looks. Though the voice was obviously deeper, the ghost's tone, the inflection carried a familiar echo. That murderous intensity was still present in the ghost's glowing eyes, but it seemed as if a great deal of Phantom's frenzy had suddenly subsided at some internal realization.

            "You know when you get like that, you could be _quite_ convincing as Daniel." Vlad sneered at the ghost.

            "Lemme go!" Tucker tried to kick Vlad in the side, but his angle prevented the techno-geek from being able to land a solid blow.

            "What he said!" Sam snarled, swinging her legs. Unlike Tucker, the goth was able to get the momentum up to make impact with the billionaire's ribcage. The fact she was wearing combat boots certainly helped.

            "Fortune cookie!" Vlad yelped, dropping both teens to clutch at his apparently bruised midsection.

            The billionaire looked ready to dish immediate retaliation, but Phantom wasted no time, tearing forward and shoulder-slamming the man. With a grunt Vlad went sprawling away from the group, crashing squarely into the Zears sign and spraying glass shards for several feet all around. Phantom slid to a halt midair and landed between Sam and Tucker, with Jazz getting back to her feet behind the ghost.

            "We've got to get out of here." Jazz cringed, she suspected she'd be wearing a few bruises from her tangle with Vlad for the next several days. "You can't fight him, Danny. If you do, you'll-"

            "Look out!" Phantom yelped, grabbing Sam and Tucker and tackling Jazz, turning the four of them all intangible just in time to avoid a pink ecto-blast that carved out a gap in the asphalt where they'd been standing just seconds prior.

            "I am rapidly losing what patience I had for your _antics_." Vlad snarled, landing a few feet away, one fist still surrounded by the pink glow.

            "Danny?" Sam cast a worried glance at the ghost, who seemed badly worn out from the effort and nearly ready to fall over.

            "I-" Phantom gasped out, legs going limp. "You guys... you're okay?"

            Jazz and Tucker caught the ghost before he could hit the ground, Vlad only momentarily forgotten. It was evident to the outside observer that the fighting had taken a vicious toll on Phantom. His jumpsuit was ripped in places where impacts with the ground or wall had torn the elastic material, revealing bruises and gashes beneath. There was an awful lot of glowing green ectoplasm oozing from the wounds, and it was obvious that Phantom was in no condition to keep fighting. He needed to rest at the very least; though it was likely that even had he a chance to really rest, it was only stalling the seemingly inevitable.

            "Yeah, we're fine." Jazz ignored Vlad's approach for the moment, giving the exhausted ghost a warm smile. "Thanks to _you_."

            "I'd hate to interrupt such a sappy little scene, but-" Vlad was almost on top of the group when a pink blast from above caught him squarely in the face and sent him slamming back into the wreckage of the Zears sign with a startled yelp.

            "I'd ask you to step away from the ghost." He heard his own voice echo down from above. "But knowing me, it would be rather a waste of time."

            "Jazz! Sam! Tucker! Are you guys okay?" Danny landed next to the group of teens, worry all over his face, immediately followed by confusion when he got a look at his alternate self's condition. "Whoa, what happened to him?"

            "Just a little bruised, but yeah, we're fine." Sam responded as Jazz and Tucker carefully laid Phantom flat on the ground.

            "He was tryin' to take Vlad on all alone." Tucker cringed. "And wasn't doing so hot."

            "And we would have been _toast_ if he hadn't been trying so hard." Jazz gave the younger teens a pointed look.

            "That too." Tucker noted lamely.

            Danny looked more than slightly incredulous at that claim, but the proof was lying there in front of him. His sister and friends were lightly battered but no worse for the wear, yet his alternate self was a wreck. From the various damages visible in the parking lot, it was apparent that the fight though badly one-sided was intense. Assuming he and Plasmius could drive Vlad off, just maybe it was possible that Jazz's psychology-babble could be used to resolve the split ghost halves' fatal problem.

            "What the-?" Vlad openly gaped at the intrusion as he got back to his feet, lightly scorched. After all, he had no way to know about the fused ghost that had actually destroyed his castle. As far as he had been aware, there was only a single ghost that could alter its appearance. The billionaire had _not_ been expecting to deal with a second one.

            "Surprised?" Plasmius smirked, touching down a few feet away, fist still glowing from the blast he'd flung at the billionaire. "After all, it's not every day that you come face to face with your future, is it?"

            "Who-how-?" Vlad stammered momentarily before regaining some of his earlier composure, though he was still clearly confused by the situation. "Well, that explains quite a lot then."

            It was a bit disconcerting to see Vlad and his alternate future self staring one another down. Unlike Danny and Phantom, there was no drastic difference in height- the billionaire and his future ghost self were very nearly perfect mirror images, though Plasmius did look older and slightly slimmer. At a distance however, the casual observer would be hard pressed to tell the two apart.

            "Yes, you'd think so, wouldn't you?" Plasmius retorted, surveying his past self warily. "Now I don't suppose you could be convinced to do the intelligent thing and leave Daniel and his little friends alone?"

            "And if I refuse?" Vlad raised an eyebrow, clearly not taking his older self seriously. A green blast then caught Vlad in the side, knocking the billionaire to the ground with an annoyed grunt.

            "Then we do this the hard way!" Danny flew up alongside Plasmius, fists still glowing from the blast.

            Plasmius regarded the teen with a look of mild exasperation. "Couldn't you have _waited_ before doing that?"

            "What?" Danny quirked an eyebrow. "You don't honestly think he'd just say 'Sure, see you later!' and leave, do you?"

            The look on the older ghost's face clearly indicated he had no counter to that argument. Really, if anyone there knew how Vlad was going to react to the situation, it would be Plasmius. Judging from the look on the billionaire's face as he got back to his feet for the umpteenth time that day, his reaction was going to be considerably unpleasant.

            "I figured you had something to do with this, Daniel." Vlad growled, apparently ready to resume the butt-kicking he had been giving Phantom prior to the teen's arrival.

            "I suppose we've already handled the 'ghost attacks' and 'exchange witty banter' portions of the program." Plasmius quipped, glancing at Danny. "I suppose this is the 'kick ghost butt' part, then?"

            Danny almost fell out of the air at the wisecrack. "You weren't even here when I said that!"

            Plasmius simply gestured back at Phantom. "Perhaps so, but if you'll recall he and I _have_ been sharing a single consciousness for the past decade. I've had far more exposure to your particular brand of wit than I care to think about."

            Further banter was cut off when a bright pink energy beam sent Plasmius tumbling. Danny reacted far more quickly, managing to get a green shield up before a similar shot could send him reeling. Apparently Vlad's patience had completely run out, and the man was simply in the mood to deliver some serious smackdown.

            Plasmius cringed and rubbed his head as he got back up, having come to a halt near where Jazz and the others were trying to do what they could for the battered Phantom. A quick glance confirmed that Daniel was keeping his past self otherwise occupied, the two half ghosts already several dozen feet in the air above the mall. Figuring the boy could handle things for the moment, the older ghost took the opportunity to see how his allegedly better half was faring.

            The teens trying to tend the wounded ghost all cast uncertain looks when Plasmius closed the remaining distance. The older ghost knelt next to Phantom, surveying the multitude of injuries for a long moment of awkward silence.

            "Um.... he got beat up bad fighting... uh..." Tucker broke the silence, frowning and gesturing overhead. "... other you?"

            Plasmius nodded absently, trying to figure out how to turn the situation to benefit his current goal. Clearly, the first priority was dealing with present-day Vlad, and _that_ would likely entail rendering the billionaire unconscious. Plasmius understandably had his doubts that Daniel would be able to do that alone. He had little qualms about joining the fight himself, but if Phantom's grievous injuries were any indication, he would have to be exceedingly cautious in how he used his powers.

            "Do you have to hover like that?" Jazz inquired, a surprising degree of annoyance in her tone as she cradled Phantom's head in her lap. "He's in a delicate emotional state, and your presence is only going to upset him!"

            Plasmius gave the redhead a baffled look. He was accustomed to defiance; after all, he clearly recalled being on the receiving end of it from Valerie for ten years, as well as the rest of the huntress' future defense force. He hadn't been expecting something akin to it from Jasmine.

            "You do realize, Jasmine." He addressed the girl, unsurprised when she flinched slightly under his stare. "He and I will have to address our... _issues_... and rather soon, if his condition is any indication of how much longer he and I both have to _exist_."

            Given the looks on the teens' faces, all three had already been informed of the unhappy ending that awaited the split ghost halves. Given how Phantom's eyes widened in shock, the ghost abruptly rousing to full alertness again, it was clear he _hadn't_ heard this particular bit of rather vital information.

            "To _what_?" Phantom yelped, sitting bolt upright before whimpering and clutching at his injured shoulder. He cringed, eyes clamping shut and trying to repress a spasm of pain. "What... what is going on?"

            At least it seemed the news had shocked Phantom enough to keep him from going into a panic about Plasmius being in close proximity. The apparent rate of the younger ghost's deterioration had the older ghost considerably worried however. Things had been on a timer already counting down to what Plasmius assumed would be a most unpleasant demise, but Phantom's attempts at combat seemed to have only accelerated that countdown. If the younger ghost faded to oblivion, Plasmius knew his fate would likewise be sealed, doomed to wither to a terrible ending. There were no other options, the two would have to be fused back soon if at all, meaning Phantom would need to be talked into it, and in very short order.

            "Since you've asked, I won't beat around the bush." Plasmius addressed the startled ghost. "Since we were split, haven't you noticed you've been in steadily more pain? Periodic spasms, an ongoing headache?"

            Phantom stared at Plasmius with wide green eyes, managing to nod numbly. "... Yeah... I think so."

            "And you said transforming hurt, too." Sam pointed out.

            Plasmius quirked an eyebrow at that information. _He could transform?_ Surely the act of doing so hadn't helped the slender ghost's integrity at all. It also revealed something Plasmius had suspected but didn't want to admit. Ten years ago when it all began, Phantom had always seemed to be the more complete, the dominant of the two halves. The idea that Phantom was a more complete ghost than Plasmius was seemed to be supported by the gaps in the older ghost's memory, the fact that Phantom could still transform, and the fact that a great deal of the younger ghost's attitudes and abilities seemed to have rubbed off on the older ghost.

            "Simply put, Daniel, unless _something_ is done, you and I are both going to meet the same unpleasant fate we gave everyone else in the future." Plasmius declared flatly. "In other words, game over, the curtain falls, and the fat lady sings."

            Phantom yelped and scrambled back from Plasmius. "We're _what_?"

            "You heard me." Plasmius repeated, cutting straight to the point. "Unless you and I go _back_ to that fused state, we are both as good as annihilated. Dead, past tense."

            "No!" Phantom yelled, scrambling back until his back thumped against the side of Jazz's car. "No, not again, not that-!"

            "Daniel, _calm down_!" Plasmius barked.

            Jazz got up and moved a few feet over so she was again next to Phantom, one hand on his shoulder. "Danny, relax. He's not saying you have to do it, or decide right now."

            "Danny-!" Tucker yelped, pointing skyward.

            The interruption sent everyone's attention airborne, where a particularly bad hit from Vlad sent Danny reeling, the half-ghost barely catching his footing on the side of the building in a blatant affront to physics.

            "Do I honestly need to beat you so badly before you submit?" Vlad sneered, likewise landing on the side of the building.

            "Y'know, Plasmius, you've got _really_ bad timing." Danny retorted, catching his breath and watching to see what the billionaire's next move would be.

            A white and red blur came flying up the side of the building, a roundhouse kick catching Vlad off-guard and knocking him face-first into the asphalt below. Plasmius cast an irate glare down at his past self, much to Danny's evident surprise.

            "Mood swing much?" Danny quirked an eyebrow.

            "We don't have time for this!" Plasmius retorted. "While you're wasting time dealing with him, your alternate self is getting worse, and we still have to convince him that the fusion is necessary!"

            A pink blast from below interrupted the ghost, and Plasmius went sailing through the air with a pained yelp. Vlad flew back up, scowling and clearly displeased by the situation he couldn't understand.

            It didn't take Plasmius long to regain control of his flight and even less time to rejoin Danny. The two-on-one odds weren't much better however, given Vlad's seemingly boundless stamina and Plasmius' reduced strength. A drawn out fight wasn't going to stop the angry billionaire, some sort of decisive action was required.

            On the ground, Phantom huddled against Jazz, still in a panic at what Plasmius had told him. Jazz did what she could to try and soothe the ghost, stroking his white hair and trying to ignore the occasional spasms that wracked his slim frame. Phantom really was in bad shape; though she had no way to accurately gauge it, Jazz suspected that the 20-something ghost wouldn't last for more than a few hours if that long.

            "I don't want to go back." Phantom whimpered, the sound muffled by Jazz's shoulder. "Not again, never again, not that!"

            "But if you don't..." Tucker's tone indicated that the techno-geek wasn't fond of the concept or the consequences either. "... Then you'll... disappear."

            "It's better that way." Phantom whimpered, ignoring the sounds of the three-way fight overhead. "Then I can't hurt anyone ever again."

            Sam frowned, mildly surprised to find her temper rising at the ghost's cowardice. True, he was badly traumatized and had done a lot of bad things in his past. But the Danny _she_ knew would never back down, never run away from an enemy. Even if that enemy was himself. Scowling, the goth marched over and grabbed Phantom by one shoulder, spinning the ghost to face her with a yelp.

            "So you're just going to run away?" Sam demanded.

            "Sam!" Jazz protested.

            Sam cut the redhead off, continuing her verbal assault on Phantom. "After all the stuff you did, you're just going to take the easy way out?"

            "I-" Phantom squeaked, staring wide-eyed at the goth. "But if-"

            "But what?" Sam gestured up at the aerial melee. "The Danny that I know would never take the easy way out, just because he was scared he'd fail!"

            Phantom stared gaping at Sam, then looked skyward where Danny and Plasmius were still trying to fend off a very displeased Vlad. Despite having the billionaire outnumbered, it was evident that the half-ghost and the older spook were badly outclassed. At the rate things were going, it seemed likely Vlad would wear his two opponents out long before they would be able to stop him.

            "Yeah, Danny'd face it head-on!" Tucker chipped in. "I mean look, he's getting his butt kicked but he's not running!"

            Sam would have high-fived her friend for the unplanned tag-teaming were the circumstances different. Instead, she kept a stern eye on Phantom, casting worried glances at the fight overhead. Plasmius cried out and hit the ground nearby, staggering to his feet and clutching at a large wound the impact raised on his arm. The older ghost tumbled out of the way of several more attacks before he could get airborne again, during a brief lull triggered by Danny managing to kick Vlad in the face.

            "Really, even _Plasmius_ is sticking to the fight." Sam pointed out. "Do you really want to be upstaged by that fruit loop?"

            Phantom winced, and not from a spasm. They had really good points, but still; he was terrified of what would happen if he and Plasmius were put back into that fused state. He was feeling better about himself than he had in a decade to be sure, but ten years worth of those memories were not easy to overcome. First the present-day Vlad Masters had to be dealt with, and then... what? Another trip through the Ghostcatcher? Or oblivion?

            "It's risky." Jazz broke into the conversation again, seeing an opening to temper Sam's blunt statements. "But things change, right? Present Danny was able to change his future because of a second chance. Maybe that's all you need? Another chance?"

            "I..." Phantom trailed off, wincing and nearly falling over as another spasm attacked his nerves, pouring searing pain throughout his body.

            Danny dodged around one of Vlad's attacks, darting over near where Plasmius was so that he could talk to the older ghost without being overheard. Both were roughed up from the fight so far, bearing a variety of scrapes, bruises, and burns. Vlad had sustained quite a few hits himself, but the attacks had done little but mar the man's white attire. It was clear that the billionaire was slightly winded from the fight first with Phantom, and now with Danny and with Plasmius; however it was also clear that he wasn't anywhere near as winded as his opponents.

            "This isn't working." Danny cringed, wiping a bit of ectoplasm from a small scrape on his face.

            "I hadn't noticed." Plasmius retorted dryly, wincing as a burst of pain shot down his spine. "Are there any _other_ obvious things you would care to tell me about?"

            "I've got an idea." Danny admitted. "But I don't know if it'll work."

            "As though that's ever stopped you before." Plasmius scoffed as the pair dodged one of Vlad's blasts. "What is it?"

            "If you can keep him busy for a second..." Danny frowned, shielding both of them with a barrier. "I think maybe my Ghostly Wail can knock him out. Maybe. I hope."

            Further discussion was interrupted as Vlad came flying at Danny, forcing the younger half-ghost to dodge hurriedly. Plasmius saw the opening and slammed a fist into Vlad's back, sending the man tumbling with a grunt.

            "If that's all you've got, you are certainly a very shoddy copycat!" Vlad snarled, whirling and smacking Plasmius across the face with a square-shaped ectoplasmic barrier.

            Despite the impact triggering another pain spasm, Plasmius managed to dart around a second attack to rejoin Danny.

            "Never thought I'd ask _you_ this." Danny quirked an eyebrow. "But are you okay?"

            "Do I _look_ okay?" Plasmius growled, clearing his throat, stern look replaced by a slightly thoughtful expression. "... We should try that Wail plan of yours. Only we'll need to hit him at the same time."

            "Wait, where is this _we_ coming from?" Danny looked baffled.

            "Suffice to say that after ten years, your alternate self has rubbed off on me." Plasmius flashed a nearly out of character fanged smirk. "And if one Ghostly Wail isn't sufficient, perhaps two-"

            "You can do that?" Danny yelped, clearly having not expected that.

            "Perhaps not as powerful as I would like, but yes, I believe so." Plasmius frowned. "It will take a lot out of me however. If this little plan of yours fails, your alternate self and I are both doomed, you realize."

            "Wow, never thought I'd hear you talking all noble." Danny quipped.

            "Don't get any mistaken notions, Daniel." Plasmius retorted with a glare. "There is simply no alternative option at this point. Everything else that we've tried hasn't done enough, which clearly leaves drastic measures as the only remaining option."

            "Right." Danny rolled his eyes. "That sounds more like the fruit loop I know."

            Plasmius didn't respond, instead flying in a wide arc, trying to flank Vlad, darting around the billionaire's attacks. Even the older ghost was somewhat surprised at the intensity of Vlad's anger at the situation. He always did have a short temper when a situation seemed beyond his control, but his alternate self must have been extremely angry about the house and the confusion regarding the so-called copycats.

            Phantom watched from the ground, eyes wide. His past self and Plasmius looked to be trying to circle Vlad, almost as if lining up an attack. Sam's words had stung badly, though not because she was basically calling him a coward. The goth's words stung because they were true. Existence was painful, but oblivion... was running away. Taking the easy way out, the _cheater's_ way out. Wasn't he a cheater though? Ten years ago, his cheating had set in motion the terrible chain of events that led him to this fate, wasn't he simply getting what he deserved?

            _"Get back-!" His human half cried out, backing away, radiating panic and fear._

 _"Or else what? What can_ you _do? You're useless, a waste of time. You can't do_ anything _." He retorted, looming over his human half, scowling at the very representation of his weakness._

_"I can too-! I'm-" Even in a panic, even powerless, Danny Fenton was nothing if not defiant, sliding into the familiar battle crouch he had assumed hundreds of times before. He paused, eyes going wide when he realized just **how** powerless he truly was._

_"You're what?_ Going ghost _? What could you possibly do? You can't save anyone." He darted forward, punching his human self hard enough to send the boy flying backwards and into the wall of the lab. "You couldn't save Tucker, you couldn't save Jazz, you couldn't save Dad, and you couldn't save **Sam** OR **Maddie**."_

            Words uttered ten years ago to his human half came back to slap Phantom in the face. Had he really been saying those things about his human self, or had he really been talking about _himself_? He had been equally as useless and equally at fault for the deaths that led to that fateful decision. Certainly death was the least he deserved for everything he was responsible for. But then again...

            _You've given everyone else in your life a second chance. Why not you?_

            He'd heard Clockwork saying that to his alternate self, though the words had been muffled by the sides of the Thermos he was trapped in at the time. And Jazz seemed distraught at the idea of his coming to an unpleasant ending. Even Sam and Tucker didn't seem to like the idea, and those two had _seen_ the future he had caused.

            He _hadn't_ been powerless this time though! He'd protected his sister and his friends against Vlad, hadn't he? Didn't that count for something?

            "NOW!"

            Danny's shout was almost immediately lost in a sonic maelstrom that left the teens cringing and covering their ears, and Phantom gaping openly at the display, wincing at the noise. Apparently Danny and Plasmius had managed to line up an attack, each flying on opposite sides of Vlad, and slightly above the billionaire. Vlad was busy trying not to get flung down by the dual Wails, a seemingly futile effort as the sonic onslaught drove the man toward the ground.

            _It's not working-!_ Phantom mentally shouted. From his vantage on the ground, he could tell that while the attack had the billionaire pinned down, the man was still clearly conscious. Even after the black energy rings flashed over the archvillain, he was still awake, though pinned flat against the asphalt. As soon as the attack ended, Phantom knew that the billionaire would be back on his feet, while Danny and Plasmius would both be left vulnerable. Once they were dealt with, that would leave only him, and Phantom knew he wouldn't stand a chance.

            The attack needed more power, and rather immediately. Wincing at his injuries, Phantom got back to his feet. He knew he still had enough power to add that extra punch to the group attack. He wasn't sure he would survive it. The thought was amusing in a twisted sort of way. He had first seen the attack demonstrated by a clone girl, and while it hadn't been enough stop him in his fused state, it _had_ finished her off.

            _If it stops Vlad, great. Then everyone can worry about my running out of time and stuff. If it takes me out..._ Phantom mused, crouching to spring into the air.

            "Danny, wait-!" Jazz's worried shout was all but lost in the roar of the attacks overhead.

            _...Then I guess I won't have to worry about it anymore._

            Ignoring the shouts from the teens, Phantom mustered his remaining strength and jumped into the air, a wide arc that placed him above the action, directly above the pinned billionaire. Inhaling sent liquid fire racing through his nerves, but Phantom ignored the pain. All that mattered was stopping Vlad, stopping the man that was a threat to his family and friends.... and his past.

            If two Ghostly Wails at once had been a powerful onslaught, three was absolutely vicious. The asphalt creaked ominously, windows shattering in a wide radius as Phantom added his own Ghostly Wail to the previous efforts. If people weren't aware of the ghost fight outside the mall before, there was little doubt it was now widely known. Vlad's yell of pain was utterly lost in the noise, but after what seemed nearly an eternity, the billionaire went limp and the three ghosts in the air finally ended their group attack. For an instant, there was a false silence; a void of tinkling glass and distant shrieks of panic that only seemed like silence if only for the loud noise that had preceeded it.

            Then three forms fell out of the sky, and then there _was_ silence.


	11. A Chance Taken

**A Chance Taken**  
"One night I dreamt a white rose withering,  
A newborn drowning, a lifetime loneliness.  
I dreamt all my future. Relived my past.  
And witnessed the beauty of the beast"  
_-"Bless the Child" - Nightwish_ **  
**

            "Danny!" Jazz shouted, the first to take off running for the wreckage at the center of the parking complex. Which Danny she was shouting about wasn't clear, but it didn't really matter. Sam echoed the older teen's shout, barely a second later.

            "Oh man, he'd better be okay!" Tucker yelped, pelting after the redhead and goth.

            The asphalt surface of the parking complex was cracked from the stress, a deranged spider's web of faults and seams. Miraculously, the parking structure itself didn't seem overly damaged. The main structure was at least standing, though it was likely that only structural engineers would be able to fully assess the damage done by the tripled-up Ghostly Wail that Vlad had been pounded with.

            Speaking of the billionaire, he was lying sprawled in the center of the demolition, black business suit caked with dust thrown into the air from the attack, limbs sprawled limply, expression frozen in a pained grimace. Vlad Masters was most thoroughly unconscious, though at a glance it seemed the man hadn't sustained any terribly grievous injury.

            Danny was already on his feet, a bit bruised and in human form, but by and large the teenage half-ghost was the least harmed of the lot. He looked quite frankly relieved, though he yelped in surprise when Jazz and Sam both very nearly tackled him from the sheer delight that he was safe.

            "You guys did it!" Tucker gave a cheer, the shout dying on his lips when he caught sight of the remaining two combatants. "Um... that can't be good."

            "What-?" Danny pried himself loose from the attention of his sister and friend to see what Tucker was gaping at.

            It could almost have been a repeat of the scene a week ago when Danny had split his alternate future self in half with the Ghostcatcher. Plasmius was lying sprawled on the asphalt where he had plummeted from the sky, the older ghost badly battered and dazed and evidently in a great deal of pain based on the grimace distorting his otherwise stern features. Not far from him, Phantom was laying where he had fallen; curled up tight, a black-clad form caked with electric green ooze from a multitude of injuries.

            "Fudge brownies!" Plasmius managed to bite out between hissing intakes of breath. "There's no more time!"

            "No more time-?" Danny ignored his own injuries to give the older ghost a confused look.

            "Yes, you fool!" Plasmius snapped, slowly managing to bring himself to a kneeling position. "If _I'm_ in this condition, _he_ must be several times worse!"

            All eyes followed the direction the older ghost pointed, Phantom becoming the center of attention once again. While Plasmius was evidently in a great deal of pain, he was at least staggering to his feet. Phantom looked for all the world as if he was at the very frayed end of his rope. It was understandable; the ghost had already been in bad shape by the time Danny and Plasmius had arrived, and his antics in helping knock Vlad out had clearly sapped the dregs of Phantom's dwindling strength.

            Jazz was the first to respond, gasping and kneeling by her alternate timeline brother. “Danny, say something!”

            Phantom managed to choke out a whimper as the redhead gently helped the ghost uncurl to lie on his back, eyes clamped shut. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Phantom had very little time left. If he was lucky, he barely had an hour left; and that guess was extremely generous.

            “The decision is yours, boy.” Plasmius growled at Danny. “You’re the only one who might _possibly_ have a chance to retrieve that device before time runs out.”

            Danny fidgeted under everyone’s stare after that declaration. He was understandably still not convinced that fusing the split ghost halves back into that fire-headed nightmare was going to yield any other result _but_ said fire-headed nightmare. On the other hand, Plasmius had rather masterfully guilted him out of simply letting the two ghosts fade to nothing.

            “No!” Phantom’s weak protest interrupted Danny’s trepidation.

            “Are you mad, Daniel?” Plasmius snarled at the injured ghost, patience dangerously thin from tension.

            “That’s enough!” Jazz planted herself between the quarreling ghosts. “Making him do something he doesn’t want to do isn’t going to fix anything! Danny, why don’t you get the Ghostcatcher, just in case.”

            “Are you sure, Jazz?” Danny frowned, still not liking the situation. “What if Vlad wakes up?”

            “Oh, I think we’ve got that covered.” Sam grinned malevolently, tapping one of her combat boots for emphasis. “You guys got him down, I think we can keep him there.”

            “You just want to kick him in the head, don’t you?” Tucker glanced at Sam.

            “And you don’t?” Sam retorted.

            “Point.”

            “While you get that, I’ll talk to him.” Jazz gestured at Phantom, the ghost biting down on his lip to keep from crying out. “… And meet us at the park, we should probably move away from… well… this.”

            A quick gesture at the battered parking structure, with several cars in various states of smashed reminded everyone that while most people would be running away from the mall, there would be at least three people running _toward_ it, weapons loaded. With the fight over, lingering too long would be a bad idea, generating awkward questions that none of the teens wanted to try and answer.

            "That's a good idea." Danny reluctantly admitted. "Then if Vlad comes to, he won't know where everyone is."

            "Then stop dawdling and get _going_!" Plasmius hissed, cringing at what probably another burst of pain.

            "Alright already, keep your cape on, geez!" Danny grumbled as he transformed and took off.

            "Moving _him_ is all well and good, now how do you propose _doing_ so?" Plasmius inquired of the remaining teens as he clambered to his feet, grimacing as he did so.

            "By driving?" Jazz pointed at her car, the machine thankfully only sporting a few new dents from its proximity to the earlier battle. "Tucker, Sam, I'll need some help to lift him-"

            The redhead trailed off when Plasmius walked over and scooped the injured ghost up, lifting Phantom with far more ease despite his injuries than the teens would have been able to manage. Jazz trotted to her car and got the door open without further prompting, enabling the older ghost to maneuver Phantom into a reasonably comfortable position laying across the back seat.

            "Ur..." Tucker glanced at Plasmius uneasily. "How are you going to get to the park-?"

            All eyes turned to the older ghost. With Phantom taking up basically the entire back seat of Jazz's car, Tucker would be sitting in the passenger seat, while Sam would ride in the back with Phantom's head basically in her lap. There just wasn't any room in the compact car for the tall spook. None of the teens were particularly comfortable with the idea of Plasmius riding in the car with them to the meeting point, either. Sure, he'd proven himself to be... well, not a threat to them if not exactly one of the good guys; but even haggard as he was, Vlad Plasmius was an imposing figure. It was still difficult to separate the Vlad they knew of in the present from his more mature future counterpart.

            "I still have enough strength to get there under my own power." Plasmius stated simply, lifting into the air and trying hard not to let the pain the simple action triggered show on his face. "Barely."

            Phantom whimpered from the backseat while Plasmius limped into the sky. Time was running out, the teens could only hope Phantom would hold out long enough for Danny to arrive with the Ghostcatcher. And that they could somehow talk Danny, present _and_ future into agreeing to take what really was an insane chance.

            "Ooh..." Vlad groaned where he was still sprawled on the ground, apparently beginning to come to.

            "Guys, hurry up!" Jazz yelped, diving into the driver's seat and gunning the engine.

            "Oh, I don't think so." Sam bit out, marching over and fulfilling her earlier implied threat of keeping Vlad down with a swift kick to the head.

            "Ouch." Tucker cringed.

            Thankfully for the group, Vlad went still after a combat boot was introduced to his skull, a nearly comedic lump rising where Sam had kicked him.

            "That's for hurting Danny. BOTH of him." Sam declared, pleased with her handiwork as she got into the car, careful to position herself so that Phantom was lying as comfortably as could be managed.

            "Aren't your parents going to wonder about the bright glowing green stains all over the back seat?" Tucker glanced over at Jazz.

            "Probably not." Jazz replied as she navigated the car through the debris and got the vehicle to the ground floor of the parking complex. "I'll just blame it on one of their gadgets or something."

            Silence fell as Jazz sped around a corner, the teen's driving eerily reminiscent of her father's maniac antics behind the wheel. Sam braced Phantom as best she could as Jazz wove through the heavy traffic fleeing the mall, trying not to cringe at the ghost's pained whimpers whenever a jolting turn bounced him against the seat.

            "So how are we going to talk Danny into going through with this?" Tucker glanced around the back of his seat to look at Sam and Phantom. "It _is_ pretty nuts."

            "Well we can't just abandon him!" Jazz protested.

            "Yeah." Sam agreed quietly, running her fingers through Phantom's wild hair. "From a messed up future or not, he's _still_ Danny."

            "But he-" Tucker gestured at the semi-conscious Phantom. "-doesn't seem all too keen on the idea."

            "I'll talk to him when we get there." Jazz stated plainly. "A lot happened today, we _did_ make a lot of progress, even with the fruit loop showing up. We just need to convince _him_ that he's made a lot of progress."

            The rest of the trip was spent in uncomfortable silence. Time was steadily running out; Sam could see plainly that some of Phantom's injuries seemed to be slowly expanding. If they were going to talk Phantom into taking the chance on going back to that fused state, they weren't going to have much time to do it.

            After what seemed nearly an eternity, Jazz pulled her car onto a service road into the park; one of many "secret" routes she'd learned that Danny and the others used regularly when they needed a shortcut. The park caretakers wouldn't be around until after nightfall, so there would be no one to look askance at a bunch of teenagers and one badly battered ghost slipping in through that gate. In moments Jazz shut the engine off, the car hidden from view above by overhanging tree branches, just in case Vlad came looking for them.

            "Well, we're here." Tucker looked around the immediate vicinity after climbing out of the car. "Anybody see the future fruit loop?'

            "I should certainly hope not." A voice declared from right in front of the techno-geek as Plasmius appeared.

            "AAH!" Needless to say, Tucker hadn't been expecting it, and nearly jumped into the overhanging branches in surprise.

            "Tucker-?" Phantom tried to get upright at the sound of the geek in distress, a bolt of worry momentarily overcoming the now-constant pain.

            "He's fine, just surprised." Sam rolled her eyes. "Hang in there, younger Danny is getting the Ghostcatcher."

            The reminder sent the mangled ghost scrambling weakly, trying to get away. "No! What if-"

            "Sam, could you go peel Tucker out of the tree? Let me try talking to Danny. _Alone_." Jazz peered into the back of the car, having already climbed out of the driver's seat.

            Sam looked ready to protest until she met Jazz's gaze. Sure, she was worried about the ghost, but as a friend; and even that was tinged by the horrible things she'd seen in that future, that he'd been responsible for. The worry in Jazz's eyes went beyond the mere concern of a doctor for a patient, beyond the worry of a best friend; this was the sort of deep-rooted concern and protectiveness of an older sister for her baby brother. Regardless of the technicality that this particular instance of said baby brother was actually eight years older than she was.

            Reluctantly she climbed out of the car and went to talk to Tucker, the two teens soon scouring the sky overhead for signs of Danny. With Sam out of the way, Jazz slid into the vacated seat, shutting the vehicle door to give her some privacy with the ghost. Phantom stared at her with wide eyes, having pulled himself into a sort of sitting position huddled against the opposite side of the little vehicle.

            "Does it hurt?" Jazz asked, lightly laying one hand on Phantom's arm.

            His only answer was a tiny nod, flinching at the physical contact. Jazz could clearly see that Phantom's injuries had only worsened over the course of the short drive from the mall to the park; she had precious little time to convince him of anything.

            "That's not all that hurts, is it?" She pressed on, ignoring the occasional questioning glances from outside the car. "You're afraid, aren't you?"

            Another nod. This wasn't going to be easy.

            "Of what?"

            This time the response was a slight shrug. Likely a more expressive motion would have hurt a great deal, given an injury near one shoulder had gone from just a rough scrape to a gaping green gash over the course of the short trip.

            "Are you scared of dying?" The question was a lot more pointed than Jazz would have liked, but time was a precious commodity now. The redhead didn't have the time to play the situation like the psychologist she was studying to become. So she had to settle for playing it like an older sister, on instinct.

            Phantom's gaze jerked up in surprise at the direct question. Apparently it had pierced through the veil of pain and the fear that seemed to always be present in the ghost.

            "But...I'm... I'm a ghost already." He squeaked out.

            "But you still have a life. You still _exist_. You're afraid of losing even that, aren't you?" Jazz leaned back against the car seat.

            "I.... yeah." Phantom's gaze drifted down again, fixating on his white boots in between increasingly visible cringes of pain.

            "So why are you so scared of doing what it takes to _prevent_ that?" Jazz pressed, silently hoping that taking the blunt approach wasn't going to scare the ghost into doing something irrational.

            Phantom winced, this time not from the now almost constant pain. "If it doesn't work right..."

            "You're worried that you'll go back to _that_? The past ten years?" Jazz picked up when the ghost fell silent.

            Phantom nodded, not meeting the redhead's gaze. "I don't want to... go back to that, I mean. I don't want everyone to die."

            "Nobody is going to die." Jazz stated in a very matter-of-fact tone. "You told me earlier today that you acted the way you did because you were upset with yourself, that you didn't think you were any good, because you couldn't save anyone."

            Green eyes peered up slightly through a mess of white bangs. What was Jazz getting at? He didn't want to die, to cease existence; the not _knowing_ what was beyond that was terrifying. Yet the thought of willingly going back to _that_ existence... just no. He was certain that if he took that second trip through the Ghostcatcher, that nothing would change. It just wasn't possible.

            "Well you _did_ save everyone today." Jazz pointed out in a gentle voice with a trace of... what was that? Pride? "If you hadn't acted, who knows what Vlad would have done. You saved me, you saved Tucker, you saved Sam... and you saved your humanity, too."

            Her choice of wording made the ghost look up at her again, jaw hanging open slightly in shock. "My.... what?"

            "Danny... _other_ Danny, would have been toast. He didn't stand a chance against Vlad alone. You _saved_ him." Jazz let herself smile slightly. "That has to count for something, right?"

            Phantom stared openly at Jazz now, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. Just a few short months ago, he knew the thought would never have occurred to him. The entirety of his life had been focused on trying to purge the painful memories. But maybe... He knew he would never forget that terrible day; the screams, the smell, the noise, that all-consuming sense of fear and loneliness. The only way those memories would ever die is if he went with them.

            "Things _can_ change, Danny." Jazz pressed on, seeing that something she was saying appeared to be getting through. "You proved it not even an hour ago. If you can come that far in just one day... Do you really want to cheat yourself out of a chance to do better?"

            "But if it goes wrong-" Phantom tried to protest.

            "What if it goes _right_?" Jazz countered. "You're being too hard on yourself. You aren't what you were ten years ago when this all started. We're all here and safe, you're not the same upset teenager you used to be."

            Phantom stared at her again, struggling to process what she was saying. He was frankly terrified of what would happen on the other side of the Ghostcatcher, he had a difficult time trying to compute the idea that the results might _not_ be a repeat of that day in Wisconsin ten years in his past.

            "You're a grown man, Danny. Sure, you've had problems, but who hasn't?" Jazz continued, shifting to lay a hand on the ghost's shoulder. "You can change, just today alone has proven that."

            "Jazz..." Phantom stared, still at a loss. It distantly reminded him of her conversation ten years ago when he first met Spectra. Always wanting to help him, trying to support him in her own way.

            "Whatever happens, I'm sure you'll do the right thing. I believe in you, and I'm proud of you. You just have to _give_ yourself a chance." Jazz smiled then, even though she knew she was out of words. If she hadn't convinced him... nothing would.

\---

            "Okay, I got it!" Danny declared, touching down not far from his sister's car, Ghostcatcher in hand.

            "Unfortunately, things appear to be in Jasmine's hands right now." Plasmius declared from where he was sitting against the tree trunk, trying to expend as little effort as possible to slow his own deterioration.

            "Yeah, she's been talking to him since we got here." Sam frowned in the direction of the car, trying in vain to discern what was going on inside the vehicle.

            Danny frowned as well. He still had his reservations about the situation. If it went wrong, he knew he was in no shape to take on that fire-headed monster again. The half-ghost may have gotten off the easiest in the fight with Vlad, but he had still taken quite a beating. The only reason Danny was in far better shape than the two split ghost halves was clearly the simple fact that his life wasn't ticking down on some sort of death clock. The battle had taken a great deal out of the reserves of the two ghosts, while he didn't share that restriction.

            Still, Plasmius' taunting remark earlier in the day was fresh in his mind. More than anything, Danny absolutely refused to be _anything_ like his alternate future self. The older ghost had rather handily laid the situation out; if Danny let his alternate ghost self die, even if only from inaction, it was a death on _his_ head. A murder. If Danny simply did nothing, he would be no better than Phantom was, a killer.

            "Okay, Plasmius." Danny addressed the older ghost. "If we do this, what if the result is the same as before I hit you guys with this thing? What then?"

            "Yeah." Sam cast a worried glance at Danny. "We definitely don't have anything to fight _that_ with."

            "Especially after that whole mess with Vlad." Tucker cringed. He knew Danny was probably going to be stiff and bruised for another several days as a result of that fight.

            Plasmius remained silent for a long moment, considering Danny's concern. In all honesty, the tall ghost was likewise concerned as to what could be done in the event of the worst case scenario. Much as he didn't like the idea of plotting for his own demise, it was something necessary to plan for. Particularly if he even wanted to take the chance; if Danny decided not to permit the attempt, Plasmius knew that he was in no condition to force the issue.

            "If that _is_ what happens, think about it for a moment." Plasmius finally replied. "The halves make the whole, and if you'll recall Daniel, both halves are in rather poor condition right now. It stands to reason that regardless of the outcome of the fusion's psychological state; the result will not be anywhere near as powerful, at least not for some time. Certainly well within what one of your father's Thermos devices could trap."

            "Right, because the Fenton Thermos worked so well the _last_ time." Sam quirked an eyebrow.

            "Perhaps so, but it did take several months to break free of it." Plasmius countered easily. "And that was in a far better physical state than I suspect we'll be in this time. At the very least, it would serve well enough as a temporary measure until a more... permanent... solution was found."

            "Well, that's better than nothing." Danny admitted reluctantly.

            This wouldn't be the first time he'd taken a chance best deemed reckless, but certainly none of his previous gambles had carried such high stakes with so small a chance of a good result. Given the circumstances, the options were extremely limited. Either he did nothing and tried to ignore the guilt he knew would come about having actually ended something's very existence, or he could take the gamble on the Ghostcatcher. There was simply no time left to even begin to find a more palatable solution.

            "Something else is bothering you, Daniel." Plasmius quirked an eyebrow, the declaration startling the teen. "Oh, don't look so surprised. You're still quite terrible at hiding your thoughts, it's written all over your face."

            Danny looked momentarily annoyed by the older spook's declaration. Alternate future or not, Vlad was still Vlad, and Vlad always got on his nerves. "Yeah. What are we going to do if _other_ **you** shows up wanting to pick up where we left off?"

            Plasmius again didn't respond immediately, a look of deep thought crossed his stern features as he considered that. The teens could almost see the light bulb of an idea click on, the ghost's expression slowly shifting to a wry smirk.

            "I never thought I would confess this to anyone, much less _you_ , Daniel-" Plasmius beckoned Danny over, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "But if you threaten him with this-"

            Plasmius whispered the rest in a voice too low for Sam or Tucker to overhear. Given the way Danny's expression shifted to a huge grin, with perhaps just a slight tinge of malicious glee thrown in for good measure, it was clear that whatever Plasmius had in mind had to be pretty good.

            The sound of a car door slamming interrupted the group, all eyes turning to the vehicle and the two figures who emerged from it. Phantom was on his feet; the ghost leaning heavily on Jazz for support, face set into a sort of grim determination. Jazz's expression was somewhere in between relief and worry, the front of her shirt sporting several green smudges that must have smeared off of Phantom's various wounds. Silence hung over the gathering for a long, tense moment, waiting to hear whatever had been decided.

            "I'm ready." Phantom broke the silence in a barely audible voice that while soft still carried the steely determination that his present day counterpart often displayed when his back was against the wall.

            "Well, I'm glad that's decided." Plasmius hauled himself to his feet, biting his lip with a hissing intake of breath at the pain the motion sent shooting through him. "Daniel, I would assume you know how to work that wretched device, if you would do the honors?"

            "Yeah, just... get lined up or something." Danny frowned, checking to make sure he had the gadget turned the right way.

            Plasmius closed the few feet of distance to stand next to Phantom, the older ghost finally showing some of his own trepidation at this gamble. Phantom ignored the taller ghost, instead turning his attention to the faces of his sister, who gave him a reassuring smile and a careful hug; and of his friends, Sam giving him concerned smile; Tucker forcing a large grin and flashing the spook a thumbs-up.

            "Remember, I trust you." Jazz whispered to Phantom as she moved away, leaving Phantom standing shakily on his own.

            Danny looked at the split halves, some flash of intuition tugging at him. He looked right at Phantom and forced himself to grin at his alternate ghost self. "Thanks for the save back there, by the way. I couldn't have done it without you guys."

            Phantom's eyebrows both shot up at the declaration of gratitude from his past self, a tentative smile tugging at his mouth. "Uh... thanks to you too... I mean... everybody and... well, thanks."

            "Here goes." Danny took a deep breath to steady his own nerves, hefting the Ghostcatcher with both hands and lifting slightly into the air.

            A quick glance showed Sam had the Thermos uncapped and ready just in case. Tucker had his fingers crossed, while Jazz simply maintained a calm eye contact with Phantom. In one swift motion, the glowing green webbing of the Ghostcatcher came slamming down over the two ghosts, and the chance was taken.

            There was a flash of light, the scene nearly a perfect reversal of events a week prior. Two voices yelped, briefly silenced, replaced by one. Danny immediately jumped back, the unwieldy Ghostcatcher held like a giant tennis racket, watching and waiting with bated breath. _If this doesn't work..._

            In an instant, it was done. Where two fading ghosts had been standing just a moment prior, now stood only one; the evening breeze toying with the burning white hair, jagged cape fluttering slightly, glowing red eyes narrowed to wary slits. A moment of silence passed, and he finally spoke; his voice the same cold mocking tone Danny recalled entirely too well, the voice that made his blood run cold.

            "So, that's it, isn't it?"


	12. Faith and Trust

**Finale - Faith and Trust**  
"You show me how to see,  
That nothing is whole  
And nothing is broken"  
_-"Sanctuary" - Utada Hikaru_ **  
**

            Danny swallowed hard, trying desperately to ignore the cold knot of fear that suddenly settled in his stomach. The Ghostcatcher had worked precisely as intended, but how could the half-ghost not be afraid; fearful that they had all taken a gamble and lost? The tension in the air was very nearly a physical force as _he_ stood still, studying the immediate area and the group of teens in silence save for that first statement.

            His stony gaze came first to Tucker, causing the teen to yelp and step back involuntarily. Traces of a smirk creeping into his expression, his glare turned to Sam. The goth didn’t make a sound or edge away; however everything in her stance indicated tension, the Fenton Thermos held in a white-knuckle grip in her hands.

            _Not terribly surprising._ He mused to himself, turning his attention finally to Jazz.

            _He_ was the one to take a step back, red glare meeting the redhead’s calm blue-eyed gaze. If there was any fear in his sister, she did an excellent job of hiding it. Her expression was calm, unreadable. Just as there was no apparent fear, he couldn't find any trace of hopeful expectation. She wasn't afraid, but clearly she wasn't ready to simply assume anything one way or the other.

            "Well?" Danny's voice cracked the silence.

            The teen did not like the not _knowing_ whether or not he was about to get into another difficult fight so soon after the three-way brawl with Vlad. If he was going to get into another fight, he wanted to get the jump on his alternate future self; perhaps take him out with the Ghostcatcher a second time. Despite what Plasmius had said about the halves and the whole, the tall ghost in front of him didn't look to be crippled, or even mildly weakened. Granted, it was hard to tell since the ghost was just standing still.

            With a slight flourish of his cape, the tall spook turned at the sound of Danny's voice, glaring down at the teen.

            "You!" The ghost hissed, lunging at Danny.

            Danny yelped and tried to bring the Ghostcatcher to bear, but the older ghost was clearly expecting the maneuver and darted to one side. Danny felt rather than saw the Ghostcatcher being torn from his grasp and thrown aside.

            "Danny!" Sam cried, aiming the Fenton Thermos and powering the device up.

            "Sam, don't!" Tucker grabbed the device before Sam could fire.

            The goth gave Tucker a stupefied look. "Are you nuts? Danny's in trouble!"

            "Tucker has the right idea." The ghost declared smoothly, turning to face the teens, Danny held aloft by the front of his hazmat suit. "Use the Thermos on _me_ , and... well, I suppose you can kiss _him_ good-bye."

            "Put me down!" Danny squirmed, trying to pry free of the ghost's grip.

            Only Jazz seemed to still be calm, walking forward. "What are you going to do?"

            The ghost's glare dropped just a notch, though fixed on Danny. "It would be _so_ easy to destroy you now. Weak from that battle, caught off guard, so frail and so _useless_."

            "Danny." Jazz's tone indicated she was addressing the older ghost, and not the squirming form of her present-timeline younger brother.

            "It would be so _easy_. First you, then Valerie-" He ignored Jazz, his voice taking on a sinister purr at the huntress' name. "-then everything else. It would be so easy to destroy everything if I wanted to."

            Something in his tone made Danny cease struggling momentarily. _"If"? Did it... actually **work**?_

            The ghost lifted his gaze, not glaring now, but rather just looking. Almost as if he was seeing the teenagers staring back at him for the first time. "But I don't think I _want_ that anymore."

            With seemingly careless disregard, the ghost released his hold on Danny, the teen landing on his rump in surprise.

            "It worked?" Sam gawked, voicing the same thought that Danny had been thinking just moments prior.

            "Y'mean you aren't going to..." Tucker frowned, recalling what he'd seen of that messed up future. "Um... _that_?"

            "No. I won't." The older ghost replied tartly. "Thanks to Jazz, mostly."

            Jazz's calm stare cracked finally, a slight grin laced with relief creeping into the redhead's expression. "That's great! It worked! I was _right_!" She crowed.

            " **But** -" He interrupted Jazz's glee. "-That hasn't changed _everything_."

            "What are you getting at?" Danny demanded, back on his feet and putting himself protectively in between the ghost and his sister.

            "What I am _getting at_ is that I'm not like _you_." The ghost snapped in response. " _You_ have friends and family to protect. _I_ don't. _I_ am only half of what _you_ are, and you'll recall that the _other_ half isn't a shining example of community service. So _don't_ expect me to be the same sort of do-goodie _you_ are."

            With that statement, he waved one hand, a green portal forming with a little effort: he _was_ weakened from the week-long separation and the battle.

            "Wait, where are you going?" Sam interrupted, running over. "After all this, you're just _leaving_?"

            For an instant, just barely a flicker of sadness flashed across that otherwise fearsome face as he looked at Sam. He looked away almost as quickly, expression setting back into the far more familiar scowl.

            "I don't want to stay. I'll..." He paused, stepping partway into the portal. "... I'll find my own future. Instead of living in the past."

            He ducked into the portal, the green vortex swirling shut and leaving four very confused teenagers in its wake.

            "Well, he's not trying to kill everybody." Tucker stated lamely in the long awkward silence.

            "Where do you think he _went_?" Sam frowned, still unsettled by the ghost's erratic behavior.

            "The Ghost Zone, I guess." Danny forced himself to relax, retrieving the fallen Ghostcatcher. "Maybe to find Clockwork."

            "Well, it's over with." Jazz noted with a sigh. "We beat the bad guy and successfully used psychology to turn the _other_ bad guy around. Not bad for a day's work, Danny!"

            Danny exchanged looks with Sam and Tucker at the statement. The half-ghost couldn't really complain about who had done more work though. Sure, he'd done the physically intense fighting; but it was his sister who had been quick enough mentally to come up with the idea of trying to treat the future-spook's psychotic disorder. She'd been the one to _do_ it, though none of the younger teens knew how she'd managed to talk the traumatized Phantom into it. If she hadn't helped Phantom face his mental problems, Danny was certain that he would have either been smacked around worse by Vlad, or trying to fend off guilt about the split ghost halves' grisly demise.

            Instead, Vlad was beaten, Danny had some interesting blackmail material, nobody was dead, and everything seemed to have ended as well as could be expected. He did wonder what his alternate future self _was_ going to do in the Ghost Zone, but that was a worry perhaps for another day.

            "Let's just get home." Danny stretched, doing his best to ignore his collection of bruises and sore muscles.

            "I think not, Daniel."

            Danny slapped his forehead, not bothering to look at the source of the irate voice. In dealing with his alternate future self being put back together, the teens had all moved out from under the cover of the tree branches. Vlad touched down a short distance away, the older half-ghost looking extremely imposing despite the ugly blackish bruise marring his face; the mark of Sam's earlier boot-to-the-head anesthetic.

            "Look, Plasmius." Danny grumbled, glaring at the billionaire. "We've _both_ had a really long day, can we take a rain check on another fight?"

            "And why should I want to give you the opportunity to recover?" Vlad sneered. "After having my castle destroyed and then arriving to find not just one, but _two_ unexplained duplicates involved?"

            It was Danny's turn to smirk wickedly as he faced Vlad, arms crossed. "Let me rephrase it, Plasmius."

            The other teens exchanged confused looks. What _had_ future-Plasmius told Danny to use against the present day fruit loop, anyway? Apparently Vlad was wondering what his young rival was up to as well.

            "How about you go back to your vacation house or whatever, and forget that this stuff went down? Or **else**." Danny's smirk went up a notch as Vlad gave him a disdainful look.

            "Or else _what_?" The billionaire scoffed.

            "Or else I'll tell Mom _all_ about your Fantasy Football league." Danny retorted, taking no small amount of delight from the threat.

            Vlad's expression changed almost instantly from sneer and scoff to utter shock, red eyes wide open in surprise. He sputtered angrily. "How do you- I mean, I haven't any idea what you're talking about!"

            "Mm-hm." Danny chuckled, thoroughly enjoying this. "The Madison, Wisconsin Fantasy League, and your team is, of course, the Packers."

            "What? How did you find out about-?" Vlad sputtered, completely thrown off his groove by the unexpected blackmail.

            "And that you go down to the sports bar every time there's a game on, and you and your league pals spend hours bickering team strategies." Danny counted off. "And I'm sure Mom would be fascinated by the story of the bar fight that you accidentally started last year because your team lost the league."

            "I was overshadowing the guy that started it!" Vlad protested.

            "Still counts as starting it." Tucker smirked, having caught on to what Danny was up to.

            "Yeah, Mom doesn't need to know that detail." Danny grinned. "So how 'bout it, Plasmius? We all forget this ever happened, and Mom never gets to hear all about _Uncle Vlad's_ play-pretend football addiction."

            Vlad fumed where he stood for several seconds, expression a mix between indignant, offended, and frustrated. Apparently the Fantasy Football thing was a sensitive subject for the billionaire, as was the knowledge that under his management the Packers had not done very well in said fictional league. Finally he glared at Danny.

            "Very well, Daniel." Clearly the billionaire's tone indicated Vlad's dismay and displeasure. "But do not expect to hold that fact over me forever."

            "Nah, just this once." Danny grinned, silently glad that the blackmail had worked.

            Vlad disappeared, grumbling and apparently baffled at how Danny had learned the secret of his hobby, leaving four confused and now relieved teens behind.

            "Okay, before anyone _else_ decides to show up, let's get out of here." Sam declared, the sentiment unanimous.

\---

            It had been one thing to put on a bold face in front of the figures straight from his past, but now that he was alone in the Ghost Zone, there was no one to answer the question plaguing him. _Now what do I do?_

            He would never admit it to _anyone_ , but he was honestly just as surprised as his past self had been that it _had_ worked. There was still a lot of hate, plenty of rage. He couldn't stand looking at his past self, that loathing still came readily. Seeing Sam had roused emotions he had for years claimed no longer existed; he suspected seeing Valerie again would have a similar impact. But it was also as if a ten-year haze had been lifted. He felt no more pride in the destruction he had caused, though he still felt justified in his actions at the time.

            What _was_ he going to do with himself now? He felt calmer than he had in years, to be sure; but therein was part of the problem. It had been so _easy_ to simply work toward destroying everything, now he had to give thought to what to do. He could be a bit of a do-goodie if he wanted. Or a villain. He had ample choices before him, and he hadn't a clue what choice to make. Help his past self? Which one?

            "Well, I was wondering when you would come back."

            He spun and very nearly blasted the ghost behind him out of sheer reflex. He refrained however, once he realized it was Clockwork. With a displeased scowl he lowered his arm and settled instead for glaring at the Master of Time.

            "You planned this." He snarled at the ghost.

            "And what if I did?" Clockwork asked calmly. "Are you displeased with the results?"

            He bit back a tart reply and the urge to try and blast the ghost. He knew from past experience that even in top condition he couldn't expect to fight the time-controlling ghost; weakened from the fusion and the fight that preceded it, he knew he had no chance.

            "What are you planning?" He growled.

            "What are you going to do now?" Clockwork countered, easily avoiding the question.

            "That's not your concern." He hissed in reply.

            "Because you don't know." Clockwork responded. It wasn't a question.

            He snorted and turned his back on the timemaster. Clockwork was exceedingly annoying with that habit of knowing everything. He wondered if it was at all possible to surprise the irritating ghost.

            "I don't have time for your games, Clockwork." He snarled. "Get to the point."

            Clockwork regarded him with an unreadable expression for a long moment, shifting to his older form. "You realize that this timeline isn't where you belong."

            "Yes, but I seem to recall mine being terminated." He snapped.

            Clockwork smirked slightly at the remark. "If that was the case, where would you be?"

            "Trapped outside of time was what I overhead." He growled, limited patience rapidly running out.

            "Outside of _your_ time, yes. That timeline still exists, otherwise you would not." Clockwork pointed out in that same infuriatingly calm tone of voice. "Which is why I ask what you intend to do now that you can be trusted to run loose."

            "I'm tired of your plots, Clockwork." He finally spat. "I'm tired of your manipulations, past and present... and no doubt future as well."

            "You could return to your timeline, you realize." Clockwork stated before he could fly away.

            That stopped him up short. He could, couldn't he? He still had that time medallion stashed in his jumpsuit. Leaving this peaceful timeline was as simple as throwing the little pendant away. He frowned, thinking about it. Did he really want to return to that future he had destroyed? There was certainly no one there who would be glad to see him. Valerie would still be out for blood, and he didn't doubt the ghosts of his past would still be lingering.

            On the other hand, what did he have remaining in this timeline? His past selves would never completely trust him. Danny wouldn't be able to get past the fear of nearly losing Jazz, Sam, and the rest to him. Vlad certainly would never trust him, if the billionaire even believed the time travel story. Plus it was unlikely Vlad would get over that whole destroying-the-mansion incident. He couldn't stick around with Jazz and the others; they were friends and family of _this_ timeline's Danny, his presence would not be welcome, just a wedge between Danny and Sam. The thought rankled, but he knew it was true. He had as much of a chance at Sam as he had at Maddie. In this timeline or his proper one, where would he be? Angry and alone, the only difference being the scenery.

            "I'll determine my own future." He spat, moving off and ignoring the Master of Time. "Without your meddling."

            Clockwork raised one eyebrow. "Then I have one more question."

            He stopped, glaring at the ghost over one shoulder. "What is it? Make it quick, I have no patience for your riddles, Clockwork."

            The ghost smirked slightly. "Seeing as you are in better balance with yourself, people can't just keep calling you Danny."

            That stopped him up short again. That certainly was the truth. While he knew that side of him was the predominant one, despite what Sam had told him a week ago... he _wasn't_ Danny. At least, not entirely. He'd gone for ten years without hardly any sort of personal identification. Unless one counted Valerie referring to him as Phantom for lack of any better moniker. If he was going to try and make a new life for himself, he would need some sort of identification.

            "Then just call me Dan-" He paused, running a finger over the DP emblem still emblazoned on his suit, recalling a sarcastic thought he'd had when he was first imprisoned in that thermos six months ago. "...Dan Plasmius. That's accurate enough."

            Clockwork didn't say anything, so Dan took that as a sign the conversation was over and flew off in a random direction. So long as it was _away_ from Clockwork. The Master of Time allowed himself a small smile as the formerly genocidal ghost disappeared into the distance.

            "Perhaps things have a chance of working out after all."

            Dan didn't hear the time master's statement, soon well lost in the depths of the Ghost Zone and brooding over the question of what he would do with himself. Stay in this timeline, where he was out of place, an outcast in every sense of the word? Or take his chances back in his timeline, where he knew he could expect open hostility. Granted, he knew that such hostility would be a wasted effort; once he recovered from his lingering weakness, there was _nothing_ in that timeline that could harm him.

            "Arf!"

            Dan looked at the source of the noise with nothing short of a stupefied expression. In his timeline, that sound was associated regularly with irritation, but he had long since scared the mutt off. It had taken years and quite a bit of animal abuse before the dog reacted to him with anything but glee.

            Cujo stood at his feet, little tail wagging furiously, tongue lolling out; the green beast radiating the sort of delight only a dog could manage. As Dan watched, the little dog sat up on his hindquarters, barking and begging for attention.

            "You are a stupid mutt, you know that?" Dan looked down as he addressed the dog.

            "Arf!" Cujo took the statement as attention, and ran a few circles around Dan's feet, barking happily.

            He raised an eyebrow, not used to something not running in terror or attacking him. "What do you _want_?"

            "Arf!" Cujo ceased his maniac running, sitting in front of Dan and staring up at him hopefully.

            Lacking anything better to do, Dan took a seat on a nearby rock. Why _was_ the Ghost Zone largely a void with the occasional island, anyway? He brushed the extraneous thought aside, watching the dog scamper over, barking. With a pleased yap, Cujo flopped to the ground at Dan's feet, flipping over to show his furry tummy to the older ghost.

            Dan stared down at the dog, one eyebrow raised. Most creatures he'd encountered knew instinctively to fear him. Yet in his timeline and now this one, that dog didn't show that fear, only the loyal glee of a dog happy to see its master.

            "You really are a stupid mutt, you know that?" He asked rhetorically.

            "Arf!"

            Dan looked at the dog at his feet, pleading with wide eyes for attention.

            "Stupid dog." He sighed.

            Dan reached down and scratched the dog's belly.

**-The End-?-**


End file.
